Efforts in wildlife restoration often fail to incorporate evidence-based practices that could increase their effectiveness. The hirola antelope (Beatragus hunteri) is a critically endangered ungulate, confined to an area of civil conflict on the Kenya-Somali border. While there is uncertainty as to why hirola populations have declined since the 1970s, there has been speculation that a combination of heightened predation and reduced rangeland quality is responsible for its distinction as the world’s most endangered antelope. We sought to (1) quantify the relative importance of predation and rangeland quality in suppressing hirola populations; and (2) build a science-based, locally-supported recovery plan to reverse declines of hirola in eastern Kenya.
Results/Conclusions
Population growth of hirola has been limited by rangeland quality, and reductions in rangeland quality were triggered by widespread tree encroachment since the mid-1980s. Locally-supported efforts in tree clearing, grass re-seeding, and elephant conservation were used to revert vast swathes of tree-encroached bushland to grass-dominated rangeland, favoring use and population growth of hirola. Our combination of demographic experiments and pastoral knowledge have been used to bolster population growth of hirola, such that hirola abundance in community conservancies now exceeds that in formally protected areas.