- The “Samburu Special Five” — the reticulated giraffe, Grévy’s zebra, beisa oryx, gerenuk and Somali ostrich — exist only in northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia, where they have evolved unique traits to survive extreme aridity.
- But droughts in the Horn of Africa, linked to climate change, now occur twice as often as two decades ago, destroying vegetation and heightening competition for scarce resources between wildlife and livestock.
- Pastoralist herders increasingly drive wildlife away from water and grazing areas, disrupting the traditional balance that once linked nomadic life and biodiversity.
- Armed groups in Somalia and Ethiopia, including Al-Shabaab and the Oromo Liberation Army, also target wildlife, adding a security dimension to conservation challenges.
In the dry regions of East Africa lives a group of animals unlike any others. Known as the Samburu Special Five to safari operators in Kenya, they are the dry-adapted reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), beisa oryx (Oryx beisa), gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) and Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes). But they are increasingly imperiled by climate change.
Their group nickname is derived from the famous Big Five — the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros — considered the most difficult to hunt by early trophy hunters. But the Special Five are so-called because they are unique species of animals found elsewhere.
“They have some distinct features that are ways of adapting to the environment that they live in,” says Samuel Mutahi, a regional specialist and senior program officer for wildlife crimes, in charge of the East African region for International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
This region of the Horn of Africa is hot and dry, except during two short rainy seasons. These harsh conditions have driven the remarkable adaptations of the Special Five.
“These animals are restricted to a geographical area — northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia — and they only exist in that place,” Mutahi says. But they have evolved remarkable adaptations to survive this harsh, dry region.
Of the Grévy’s zebra, Mutahi says, “The white stripes are more distinctive than the black ones to reflect the heat. It allows them to regulate their body temperature and not be thirsty for a long period.”
Facing high temperatures and water scarcity, regulating body temperature is crucial, as it means the animal requires less water to survive.
In Kenya, there are two kinds of zebras: the plains zebra (E. quagga), the most common and widespread, and the larger Grévy’s zebra with its distinctive stripes. With only around 2,000 individuals remaining in the wild, the Grévy’s zebra is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
“They are also able to extract moisture from the vegetation and therefore reduce their need for water. They can stay for almost over 10 days without even taking any water,” Mutahi tells Mongabay. The ability to hydrate through their diet is a characteristic shared by all of the Special Five, according to the scientist.
“For example, the gerenuk, in addition to surviving several days without fresh water, has a very long neck, which allows it to feed on vegetation that grows high up,” Mutahi says. “It’s all about adaptation. If these populations had to move elsewhere, they would not survive because they are adapted to these specific temperatures and vegetation.”
However, the Horn of Africa is suffering from the effects of climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “the frequency of droughts has doubled, increasing from every six years to every three years” since 2005 in this area.
“In the region, there is a cycle of heavy rain and droughts, but because of climate change, when the rains come, it’s somewhat …heavier than it used to be,” explains Paul Lane, archaeologist and professor at the University of Cambridge who has worked in the area and wrote a research paper on climate change in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. “The ground cannot absorb this water. So, we’re getting much more severe flooding. Same for the droughts. … We end up with vegetation that no longer regenerates as it did before.”
As vegetation disappears, resources for the Special Five are dwindling. In Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, the past four years have been marked by record droughts that have destroyed crops and decimated livestock among pastoral communities. In 2023, the United Nations estimated that more than 22 million people will face acute food insecurity in this region.
“Now there is competition between wildlife and livestock,” Mutahi says. “Most of the time, the livestock wins because the herders will be chasing away the wild animals so that their animals can have priority to water and food.”
Today, all five of these species are threatened, according to the IUCN Red List, with three of them — the reticulated giraffe, the Grévy’s zebra and the beisa oryx — listed as endangered.
“It’s very, very rare to see any wildlife outside of a protected area in those localities in my experience,” Lane says. In Kenya, the Special Five are largely constricted to Samburu National Reserve and the Shaba and Buffalo Springs reserves.
Traditionally, nomadic herding populations have coexisted peacefully with wildlife for millennia.
“There’s a symbiotic relationship between the presence of herders in African savannas and biodiversity,” Lane explains. “Herding populations move their livestock around, pen them, and the dung accumulates, enriching the soil and creating nutrient hotspots. Those nutrients enable certain grasses to thrive — the same grasses that grazing wild animals want to eat. So, then you get higher ungulate populations, which attract the carnivores. … These nutrient hotspots also have a much higher density of insects, often leading to a greater diversity of bird species.”
But this delicate balance has been disrupted by climate change, which has intensified competition between herders and wildlife.
Added to this competition is the geopolitical situation. Somalia has been in civil war for nearly 35 years, a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and forced nearly 1 million people to flee. Although a federal government was formed in 2012, it controls only parts of the country, while many areas remain under the authority of Harakaat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujaahiduun (Al-Shabaab), a jihadist group of Salafist ideology.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s security situation remains highly volatile. Two major conflicts stand out: in the north, in Tigray, and in the south near the Kenyan border, where the Oromo — Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group — are seeking autonomy. From this struggle emerged the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed rebellion against the Addis Ababa government.
The insurgent groups “are targeting this wildlife either to sell them but not only,” Mutahi says. “Giraffes have been targeted as a source of protein and meat. The Grevy’s zebra is targeted to get the hide and sell it on the international market because it’s very unique.”
In April, Kenya passed its Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill, “an act of Parliament to provide for the protection, conservation, sustainable use and management of wildlife in Kenya.” The law enables the creation of the Wildlife Conservation Trust Fund, which aims, among other things, to finance anti-poaching activities.
Under the new law, Indigenous people and local communities will still have the right to use wildlife resources for cultural and religious events, but it is hoped that the new law will deter poachers. Any person caught poaching could face a fine of 5 million kenyan shillings (around $39,000) and/or 10 years’ imprisonment. In comparison, the GDP per capita of a Kenyan amounts to around $2,200.
Banner image: Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi). Image courtesy of J.Retton.
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