No safe haven for near-extinct antelope
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Hopes are dashed that some of the few remaining hirola antelope have managed to colonise new, safer territory. Fleeting sightings of the world’s rarest antelope, the hirola, in a new safe haven are cases of mistaken identity, a survey has found. That has dashed hopes that some of the last hirola have managed to colonise a new territory where they would be less vulnerable to flooding and hunting. Fewer than 600 wild hirola remain, confined to a small area in Kenya. It is sometimes called a ‘living fossil’, being the sole survivor of a once diverse group of antelope species. Prior to 1970, an estimated 14,000 hirola existed in the wild. But the antelope soon came under a host of pressures which led to a dramatic decline in its population over the next 30 years. Hunting and predation killed many, while the animals’ range became restricted by habitat loss and an increase in human settlements and farms rearing livestock. That left few animals surviving in a small area along the border between the River Tana in Kenya and the River Juba in Somalia. The Somalia population is already thought to be extinct, while in Kenya the antelope survives in pockets within the Ijara, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu districts, while two small groups of animals translocated to the Tsavo East National park and are struggling to establish there. …
