GGR 2018: What next?

On January 27 and 28 2018 the Great Grevy’s Rally brought together teams from across Kenya, a variety of organisations, and the world to carry out the latest census of Grevy’s zebra.

In 2016 we counted an estimated 2,350 Grevy’s zebra in Kenya, where 95% of the remaining global population occurs. In order to monitor this important species, the Great Grevy’s Rally conducts a photographic census of the population every two years. Between 2016 and 2018 Kenya experienced devastating drought and conflict which greatly impacted the Grevy’s zebra. The 2018 count will show us how the species fared throughout these challenging times.

This year, 170 teams covered over 25,000 square kilometres in 5 counties of Northern Kenya. They battled harsh and remote conditions in the heat and dust to find and photograph as many Grevy’s zebra as they could. Marwell took on two vast blocks of the furthest Northern Territory. Intrepid teams of motorcyclists, private pilots and all terrain cross-country drivers joined with the local community and our scout teams to ferret out every Grevy’s zebra in the over 1200Km² area.

Citizens from Kenya and international countries volunteered their time and vacations to help photograph Grevy’s zebra. There were media, photographers and online influencers experiencing the event and sharing their stories with the world. The event benefited from the local experience and generous work of many individuals from community conservancies, private landowners, local conservation NGO’s, research organisations, KWS and county government officials

The official results from the census will be compiled by 23^rd June 2018, and announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Tourism in Kenya. Until then we will be processing over 100,000 photographs and tallying up the 2018 population estate.