ナショナルジオグラフィックのインスタグラム(natgeo) - 12月15日 00時37分

Photos by David Chancellor @chancellordavid / In 2010 a IUCN statement noted that "the loss of the hirola would be the first extinction of a mammalian genus on mainland Africa in modern human history.” At the time, there were were only between 400-450 known to be alive.

In 1888 big game hunter and zoologist H.C.V. Hunter discovered the hirola on the border between Kenya and Somalia; the animal also bears his name: Hunter’s hartebeest. For almost a century, they quietly did what antelope do along the mighty Tana River. In 1970 their numbers were estimated around 10,000-15,000, however, things began to change. The reasons for their rapid decline are unknown, but it's likely a combination of disease, hunting, severe drought, predation, competition for food and water from domestic livestock, and habitat loss caused by bush encroachment, a result of the extirpation of elephants within the hirola's range. African elephants play an important role in balancing ecosystems by trampling forests and dense grasslands, making room for smaller species such as the hirola to coexist. Elephants also create waterholes used by other wildlife. If nature’s symbiosis is disturbed, the result can be the potential extinction of associated species. Despite this catastrophic decline, conservation measures were marginal; none survive in captivity. In 2012 with the support of @nrt_kenya, Ishaqbini Community Conservancy was established to conserve the hirola within its home range. It has been so successful in reproduction that the range has now reached full capacity, enabling five hirola to be collared as part of a soft-release program into the wider ecosystem. The team will monitor their movements and behaviors, and it’s hoped they will once more spread out over this landscape. The collaring was also a unique opportunity to gather the first known samples from one of the planet’s most endangered species to try and help us understand the key to their survival. Follow me @chancellordavid.

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