Endangered Animals of East Africa

By Britta Foulis

There’s no doubt in our minds that you are aware of the problem we face today of many of our wildlife becoming endangered, threatened, or vulnerable. Ultimately, if nothing is done, these species will then become extinct – never to be seen again.

Species which have been classified as being endangered or vulnerable are in need of specialized help and protection from anywhere and everywhere to do all that can be done to change the species status back to safe. You may be familiar with these terms but do you know the difference between the two?

Vulnerable Status

A species which has been classified as vulnerable is one which faces the threat of becoming extinct. They are still at the point where if something is done to help and change their status, they can prevent the species of becoming extinct.

Endangered Status

If a species has been defined as being endangered, this means that the species has passed being a vulnerable one and now if nothing is done and serious laws are not put into place to conserve and protect the species, they will ultimately not survive and the species will become extinct. A few examples of the last-resort efforts put into place to save an endangered species are things such as serious laws, putting aside land to relocate the species, as well as implementing breeding programs.

While each and every species which is on the endangered list is important, would like to highlight the ones that are found in both Tanzania & Kenya.

Tanzania: Endangered Species

There are a large number of species which are currently categorized as being endangered which are found in Tanzania. You can see a full list of them here, there are an astonishing 762 species that are endangered in Tanzania. Below we have highlighted a few that you may be lucky enough to spot on your next safari.

• The Black Rhino
• African Wild Dog
• Chimpanzee
• African white-bellied Pangolin
• Lesser Kudu
• Thomson’s Gazelle

Kenya: Endangered Species

The list of species which are currently categorized as being endangered and found in Kenya is even bigger than those which are found in Tanzania.You can see a full list of Kenya’s endangered species here, but below we have highlighted a few that you may be lucky enough to spot on your next safari.

• Grevy’s Zebra
• The Black Rhino
• Lesser Kudu
• Thomson’s Gazelle
• Hirola/Hunter’s Antelope

What Can Be Done?

While we as Asilia do all we possibly can to protect and conserve the areas we call home, we also do all we can to protect and conserve all of the wildlife that is found in these areas.

Asilia Giving is our online platform through whichyou may supportus on our journey to make areas and species thrive. There are a number of projects we support but ones that focus specifically on wildlife are the following; The Mara Lion Project; The Mara Cheetah Project; The Ruaha Carnivore Project; as well as our very own Chimpanzee Habituation Project.

In reality, your stay with Asilia directly impacts wildlife in a positive way. Just by choosing to spend time in our camps US$ 5 per person per night is set aside for conservation and social development projects that are vital to the sustainability of Africa’s wild places.