Drought was killing Kenya

张淋铱

Kenya's worst dry weather in fortyyears killed almost two percent of theworlds rarest zebra in three months. Overthe same period， 25 times more elephantsdied than usual， as well. The drought wasstarving Kenya's famed wildlife of usualfood sources and driving it closer to populationcenters. The everwideningsearchfor food can result in deadly conflict betweenanimals and humans.

Without interventions to protect wildlifeor rain， animals in many parts of theEast African country could face a crisis，conservationists said.“ It's a serious threatto us，” said Andrew Letura， an animal observationofficer at Grevys Zebra Trust（GZT）. The Grevy's zebra is larger than astandard plains zebra and has narrowerstripes and wider ears. Grevys zebras arethe rarest zebra species： just 3000 remainin the world—2500 of which are in Kenya.

The drought had killed about 40Grevy's zebras since June， 2022， which is how many would be expected to die over awhole year， said Letura. He spoke toReuters at the Samburu National Reservein northern Kenya. “If we are losing 40within three months， what would that meanto the remaining population？” he asked.GZT had begun to feed Grevy's zebras haypoured over a mix of molasses， salt and calcium，helping to reduce the number ofdeaths， the trust said.

The situation in southern Kenya wasalso bad. “Rangers had counted eighttimes as many animals dead or too weak tostand， compared to a normal September.The Amboseli Trust for Elephants had recorded50 elephants dead or missing，”said Benson Leyian， the chief of Big LifeFoundation.

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How had the drought in Kenya affectedthe population of Grevy's zebras？

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