Abdullahi Hussein Ali
- Project name: Causes and consequences of landscape change for hirola populations in Ijara, Kenya
- Project site: Kenya
- EDGE species: Hirola Beatragus hunteri
- Active: 2011 - ongoing
Biography
Originating from the hirola’s natural range, Ali is ideally placed to overcome cultural challenges and engage the local community in hirola conservation. Ali has worked hard to forge collaborative ties with the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Northern Rangelands Trust and is committed to sharing the skills he gains from his EDGE Fellowship with the organisations he works with.
Ali has completed a PhD focusing on hirola range collapse, resource selection and demography in eastern Kenya, becoming the first person from his area of Kenya to gain a doctorate. In 2017 Ali became one of the first EDGE Affiliates.
EDGE Project
Ali’s EDGE Fellowship enhanced our understanding of the threats to the hirola and identified suitable conservation actions by:
- Investigating how overgrazing by livestock and the extirpation of elephant populations relates to hirola declines through tree encroachment
- Modelling the risk of extinction under a number of ecological scenarios and making management recommendations based on the findings
- Fostering long-term conservation support for the hirola by involving local communities through education and outreach programs
Achievements
- Ali set up his own NGO Hirola Conservation focusing on the conservation of the hirola
- He received the 2013 William T. Hornaday award from the American Society of Mammalogists for his work in Kenya
- He received the ‘Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award’ from the University of Wyoming
- He received a recognition and honor certificate from Garissa County, Kenya, for outstanding service to their people
- He was appointed to the IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group
- He was named a World Conservation Fellow by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups
- Project featured on the University of Wyoming website
- Project featured in The Metro
- Project featured in The Standard (Kenya)
Publications:
- Demographic drivers of a refugee species: large-scale experiments guide strategies for reintroductions of hirola http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.1664/full
- Resource selection and landscape change reveal mechanisms suppressing population recovery for the world’s most endangered antelope http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12856/full
Project Gallery
