By Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme
Grévy’s zebra Equus grevyi are not often observed on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch. The two adult male Grévy’s zebra observed on Christmas Day, 2014, were the first records for this species on the Ranch in several years. A citizen science survey, ‘The Great Grévy’s Rally’, conducted in January 2016, found that the number of Grévy’s zebras in Kenya is between 2,257 and 2,443, and that Laikipia County supports the largest number of this ‘Endangered’ species in Kenya (Berger-Wolf et al. 2016).
By Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme
On 29 December 2016, a large-eyed snake (or Arabian cat snake) Telescopus dhara was captured by Mike Roberts (General Manager, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch) in central Lolldaiga Hills Ranch at ca. 2,100 m asl.
By Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme
On 28 December 2016, at ca. 1,800 m asl on the Sinyai Lugga, northern Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Per Aronsson obtained photographs of an adult male woodchat shrike Lanius senator. This record brings the total number of bird species known to occur on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch to 379.
By Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme
The maned (or crested) rat Lophiomys imhausi is a distinctive, nocturnal, rodent present in scattered populations in woodlands and montane forests of northeast Africa from central Tanzania to east Sudan. Maned rats are herbivorous.
By Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme
The aardwolf Proteles cristata is the smallest member of the hyaena family (Hyaenidae). Although this insectivorous carnivore resembles the striped hyaena Hyaena hyaena in appearance, it has black feet, lacks a black throat, and is much smaller, being about the size of a jackal (9 kg). Two subspecies are recognised; P. c. septentrionalis in eastern and northeastern Africa and P. c. cristatus in southern Africa.
