grevy's zebra, plains zebra, great grevy's rally, endangered species, conservation, research projects, teacher resources, citizen science
Mpala Live! viewers joined Dr. Dan Rubenstein, zebra expert and one of the leaders of the Great Grevy's Rally, for a live chat on Novermber 28, 2016. Thanks to our partner, explore.org, you can enjoy the archived version here.
Dr. Dan fielded questions about all things Zebra-related and describes the Great Grevy's Rally (GGR) and the science it's yielding. He also talks about the North Kenya Conservation Clubs and the rich set of teacher resources available in Classroom section of Mpala Live!
The GGR was held in January 2016. More then 350 volunteers across Kenya--including the Mpala Research Centre--took 40,000 digital photos providing a census of Kenya's highly endangered Grevy's Zebra. This ground-breaking citizen science project spurred efforts to protect this beautiful animal.
• The census counted about 2,350 Grevy’s Zebras in Kenya—about 95 percent of the world’s population. Mpala is home to about 140 of them.
• Dan’s team used a special software to identify the different individuals from their unique stripe patterns
Fast facts about the spectacular Grevy's zebra:
*Each zebra’s stripe pattern is as unique as a human fingerprint and likely helps zebras recognize one another
*Grevy’s is the largest zebra species standing 4 ft (1.2m) at the should and weighing as much as 950 lb (430kg)
*They communicate using a wide range of noises and postures. Territorial males vocalize with loud braying and squeaking to protect their territory or assert dominance
Check out the gallery and interactive field guide for Plains Zebra and Grevy's Zebra. Watch Zebras Move to Music. Enjoy: A Zebra Story