Endangered animal species in Kenya

Endangered animal species in Kenya are the animal species that are at risk of extinction because of a sudden rapid decrease in their population or loss of their critical habitat. That is for example most of the plant or the animal species that was threatened with extinction are well known as the endangered species. Kenya is a wildlife safari haven with over 450 mammal species, it’s the tenth in the world with several of the mammals though a few of these mammal species are certain to be endemic. Endemic species run a high risk of extinction due to changes in their confined habitats, because due to hunting and habitat destruction, Tsavo National Park

Endangered animal species in Kenya

Black Rhinos.

Black rhinos are known as the browsers, their prominent horn can grow up to five feet in length and the major threat to the black rhinos are the poachers that they kill them for their horn to make a few coins, leaving the rhino dead, the poachers are known as the most dangerous than any other animal on this planet. The black rhinos can be spotted in the most national parks and national reserves in Kenya on a safari, if you’re in the Nairobi city then you can visit the Nairobi National Park with in Nairobi and spot the black rhinos. On a safari to Kenya, make sure that you visit the park to see the most amazing special endangered black rhino.

Lesser kudu.

Lesser kudu is also the incredible antelope, the striking of the kudu makes it stand out from the rest, the lesser kudu are mostly found in the northern Kenya. The lesser kudu are mostly affected by the poachers and hunters for meat, hides and horns, their horns have long been prized in Africa for use as musical instruments, honey, containers and the symbolic ritual objects.

Mountain Bongo.

Mountain Bongo is an endangered sub species of the bongo, one of the largest forest antelopes, the Bongo has a reddish-brown coat, with black, white and yellow-white markings as both the males and females have long, slightly spiraled horns.

The lowland bongo is still subject to snare hunting due to the expanding commercial forestry exploitation, but there are some taboos against eating the bongo meat. The mountain bongo are critically endangered the decline has been caused by a combination of several factors like the hunting, loss of appetite, the livestock-mediated diseases.  The mountain bongo are beautiful and relatively scarce.

Grevy zebra.

Grevy zebra is the endangered animal species that were named after the French president Jules Grevy by zoologist Jean Emile. There are 3 types of zebras that is the plain and mountain zebra, Endangered Grevy zebra. The Endangered grevy zebra is taller, broader, have a white belly, the muzzle is brown as opposed to the plains zebra which are dark, the Grevzy has round ears and the stripes are thinner. Hunting is the primary cause of the decline of Grevy’s zebras, they are primarily hunted for their striking skins but also will be occasionally be killed for food also minus hunting the Grevy’s also face threats from disease outbreaks, drought, habitat loss, fragmented populations, Endangered animal species in Kenya.

Hunters/ Hirola Antelope.

Hirola antelope was delivered from the Somali community that means good luck. The Somali people used to get worried because of this antelope comes to extinct their cattle will too disappear since they believe the hirola has a spiritual significance to cattle rearing. The Hirola antelope is critically endangered antelope species found on the border of Kenya and Somalia. They were discovered by the Kenyans living in the area in the year 1888, it is only extant member of the genus Beatragus.  Mostly the loss of the Hirola would be the first extinction of the mammalian genus on the mainland Africa in the modern human history.

Tana River Mangabey is a high endangered species of the primate in the family of the Cercopithecidae, the Tana River Mangabey is diurnal and semi-terrestrial, and it spends most of its time on the ground but still is considered arboreal due to its sleeping area. Tana River Mangabeys are ranked as one of the world’s 25 most threatened primates and currently it’s estimated as 1000 to 1200 individuals remaining in the wild that can be spotted on a  Kenya wildlife Safari.

Sable antelope.

Sable antelope is found in the southern savanna of Africa from the Southeastern Kenya, the Eastern Tanzania, and Mozambique to Angola and Southern Zaire, mainly in the Miombo Woodland zone, they prefer the woodlands and grasslands and thus a voiding the extensive open lands. The sable’s horns make it a highly prized hunting trophy and have contributed to the sharp decline of the animal, in addition to the heavy hunting, the numbers have been reduced severely as part of the regional tsetse fly control programs, furthermore the agricultural development is reducing the grassland habitat of the sable antelope, the antelope are important to their habitats as the grazers and browsers and also they are important as prey for the carnivores.

Roan antelope.

One of the Africa’s rarest antelopes and the third largest of Kenya’s antelopes, the roan (or Korongo as it is known in Kiswahili) is a large, grey to rufous antelope with a distinctive black and white face, not unlike a tribal mask, the roans live in the herds of up to 20 members, led by the bull. These  are endemic to Africa, used to be the most common antelopes found in almost all African savannas it is found in 30 countries mostly within the western, central and the eastern Africa.  The roan antelopes are now found in Ruma National Park, in the western Kenya which makes Kenya amazing safari tourism destination, this is primarily the result of killing for meat and traditional values such as the horns for the musical instruments and skin for the burial ceremonies though poaching is the major threat, alongside too many young roan antelopes are being preyed upon by mainly the hyena.