Climate change threatens unique ‘Samburu Special 5’ wildlife in arid East Africa

In the dry regions of East Africa lives a group of animals unlike any others. Known as the Samburu Special Five to safari operators in Kenya, they are the dry-adapted reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), Grévy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), beisa oryx (Oryx beisa), gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) and Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes). But they are increasingly imperiled by climate change. Their group nickname is derived from the famous Big Five — the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros — considered the most difficult to hunt by early trophy hunters. But the Special Five are so-called because they are unique species of animals found elsewhere. “They have some distinct features that are ways of adapting to the environment that they live in,” says Samuel Mutahi, a regional speci