As a leader in conservation since its inception in 1967, Lion Country Safari continues its dedication to conservation, locally and globally.
Below are some of the ways that Lion Country contributes to conservation efforts. Lion Country Safari hopes to inspire individuals and other organizations to participate in conserving Earth’s natural resources also.
Great Grevy’s Rally
In the late 1970’s there were an estimated 15,000 Grevy’s zebra in the wild. Today fewer than 2,500 remain. The Grevy’s zebra has suffered one of the most drastic population declines of any African mammal, due to climate change, habitat loss and competition with livestock. The Great Grevy’s Rally is a census of the population, which will aid Grevy’s Zebra Trust and their conservation partners to safeguard the future of the Grevy’s zebra.
In January of 2018, 2 employees from Lion Country Safari traveled to Kenya to participate in the second Great Grevy’s Rally. The Rally was a 2 day event that took place in remote northern Kenya with participation from 7 US zoos and hundreds of other volunteer teams. During the Rally, the Lion Country Safari team covered hundreds of kilometers in a hot climate in search of one of the most endangered mammals on the planet- the Grevy’s zebra. The Rally also tasked participants with collecting data on reticulated giraffe. We are happy to report that our team spotted 13 Grevy’s zebra in their exhausting search (no giraffe were found, but LCS team did see fresh giraffe tracks and feces!) Once the zebra were located, GPS enabled cameras were used to mark the location of the animals. Images of each animal’s stripe pattern were also captured. These images will later be processed and analyzed by sophisticated software to help determine the current population status of the Grevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe and will help conservationists determine where to focus their future efforts.
For more information on the Grevy’s Zebra Trust, visit http://grevyszebratrust.org
For more information on the Great Grevy’s Rally http://www.greatgrevysrally.com
Giraffe SAFE Program
Lion Country Safari (LCS) is a proud partner of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Giraffe SAFE program. The goal of the Giraffe SAFE program is, of course, to save giraffe! This SAFE program was started in 2017 and aims to demonstrate measurable positive impacts of zoos accredited by the AZA on the conservation of giraffe and increase the number of AZA zoos that support field conservation over the next three years. The 3 year plan focuses on supporting in-country conservation work in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and on increasing public engagement and funding from AZA zoos. To assist with in-country conservation, LCS was a proud participant in the 2018 Great Grevy’s Rally to help obtain a population census of reticulated giraffe in Kenya. To help further the Giraffe SAFE goals, LCS also aims to increase public engagement of giraffe by continuing to grow our daily giraffe training demonstration, build our painting for conservation program, and develop our yearly World Giraffe Day events!
For more information on AZA or SAFE, visit: https://www.aza.org