Bad at Goodbyes

Rough Transcript

Intro 00:05

Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.

On today’s show we consider the Hirola.

Species Information 02:05

The Hirola is a critically endangered land mammal, an antelope, native to to eastern Africa, specifically Kenya and Somalia, with two subpopulations, one within the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and another in unprotected land on the Somali-Kenyan border in Garissa County, Kenya. Its scientific name is Beatragus hunteri, and it was first described in 1889.

 

Description

The Hirola is a medium-sized antelope, approximately 3-4 feet tall at shoulder height, roughly 6-7 feet in body length, and weighing between 150-300 pounds. They have a slender build, a long neck, long legs, two curved tall horns, and a roughly foot long tail.

 

Their coat color ranges from tan and reddish-brown to gray with a white underside and white patches on the face, ears, legs and tail. They have a long, narrow face and a pointed muzzle. Large, oval-shaped eyes are set on either side of the head, surrounded by a white ring of fur that connects across their muzzle, looking a bit like a pair of spectacles. They have large dark preorbital glands under their eyes; these are specialized scent glands that secrete a waxy pheromonal fluid used for marking territory, social communication, and differentiating individuals. Their ears are large and pointed and between the ears both male and female Hirola grow curved, somewhat U-shaped ringed horns, up from the top of the head. The horns are sharp and tall, growing between 1.5 and 2.5 feet in height.

 

Behavior and Diet

Hirola are social animals that typically live in small herds of about a dozen individuals, though larger herds may form during the wet season when resources are more abundant. In general these herds consist of a group of adult  females, their offspring, and a single territorial dominant male. Subgroups will also form: small bachelor herds of yet to mate adult males, and mixed-sex herds of not yet reproductive-aged juveniles. The Hirola will also congregate with other species, joining herds of Grant’s Gazelle and Plains Zebra.

 

The herds roam over home ranges that can exceed 40 square miles, and are seasonally nomadic, seeking newly sprouting grasses. Males are territorial, using chemical cues, urine, dung and pheromones to mark their range. And visual signals, head-flagging, scratching the ground with their hooves, and slashing vegetation with their horns.

 

Hirola are generally crepuscular, active around sunrise and sunset. During the peak heat of the day, they’ll shade under shrubs and trees, resting to reduce water loss and conserve energy. In this arid landscape, they can survive long periods without drinking water, relying on the moisture content in the young green grass shoots central to their diet.

 

Hirola are herbivores, grazers, that mainly feed on these grasses. They are selective feeders, preferring new grasses, and if grasses grow too long, or are disturbed by other grazers, the Hirola will seek other patches. That said, during the dry season, when grass is scarce they will feed opportunistically, taking advantage of any available food source, browsing on leaves and fruits.

 

Herds graze together, seeking food sources cooperatively, and the group structure helps detect predators, protect young, and increases the chance of individual survival if the herd is preyed upon.

 

Reproduction

Hirola mate once a year, in March and April. With the dominant male mating with multiple females in his herd. Pregnant females gestate for roughly eight months, and then right before birthing the female separates from the herd, to give birth alone, hidden in dense vegetation. She births a single calf, and the pair remain isolated from their herd for two to eight weeks, as the mother nurses, and the calf quickly develops, gaining strength, agility, speed, soon able to stand and run. And once the calf can keep pace, they rejoin their herd, which now will often include other new mothers and their new calves, who provide protection, communal rearing, and social interaction for the young Hirola.

 

Juvenile Hirola reach reproductive maturity between 2 to 3 years of age, though the young males are generally not large or dominant enough to establish territories and compete for mates until they’re 4-5 years old. Hirola live for an estimated 10-15 years.

In The Dream

————

In the dream,

 

All is dusk, orangelit, and she is low to the dusk-colored earth in the highgrass

And she herself is dusk-colored, and alone, for the very first time in her life.

And in the dream, I can see her ears twitch, the wind and brush-rustle command her attention.

And I think I can see her fear, but even in the dream, another’s mind is unknowable.

And so I wait, holding my own fears for her, as her contractions increase,

I dread hyena and cheetah in the drought spent, as she risks a soft whimper

And then sudden a tangle of new life, stick-limbs and smallness and beginnings.

A calf damp in the drylands draws a first breath, opens eyes to first sight: her Mother.

 

In the dream.

————

Habitat

Hirola are native to native to to eastern Africa: to Kenya and to the Kenya-Somalia border, with two subpopulations, a protected subpopulation translocated in the 1960s to the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and a second subpopulation in unprotected land on the Somali-Kenyan border in Garissa County, Kenya.

 

This is a semi-arid, open grassland savanna, where the landscape shifts seasonally between dry arid conditions and relative greenery during the rainy seasons. These are grassy plains scattered with occasional shrubs and trees growing in dry sandy soils; a rugged flat expanse of muted browns with limited surface water.

 

This is a hot, dry climate with summer temps reaching into the lower 100s°F and winter lows dropping into the 60s°F. Annual rainfall ranges from 12-24 inches with distinct wet and dry seasons.

 

Hirola share their grassy plains with:

Gold-banded Forester, Marabou Stork, Western Cattle-Egret, Vervet Monkey, Giant Sensitive Plant, Tall-boy Star-Chestnut, Dwarf Gecko, Cinnabar Bracket, Somali Dwarf Mongoose, Common Hippopotamus, Hairy Carpet Weed, Teasel Gourd, Yellow Baboon, Grant’s Gazelle, Quail Grass, Lilac-breasted Roller, African Gray Hornbill, Tana River Crested Mangabey, Black Pearl, Water Lettuce, African Savanna Elephant, Blue Monkey, Pod-Mahogany, Henna, Cheetah, Cashew, Common Bark Katydid, Reticulated Giraffe, Spotted Hyena, Desert Rose, Greyleaf Heliotrope, Desert Warthog, Plains Zebra, and many many more.

 

Threats

Historically, the Hirola population has been threatened by human encroachment, habitat loss, and fragmentation. The expansion of human settlements, infrastructure development, agriculture and the introduction of domesticated livestock have reduced and transformed the Hirola’s natural habitat.

 

In the 1970s and 1980s, a viral disease called rinderpest jumped from domesticated livestock to the Hirola killing over 13000 individuals, roughly 90% of the remaining population.

 

Relatedly, human induced climate change, due to our persistent over-reliance on fossil fuels, has resulted in prolonged droughts in the Hirola’s native habitat forcing Hirola to compete with domesticated livestock for scarce food and water, and affecting the balance of prey species to predator species in their habitat. 

 

So we’re in these drought conditions and a herd of gazelle (who tend to range farther than the Hirola) head west in search of better grazing. Now, in the Hirola’s native range, there are less prey species, so lion and cheetah focus on the Hirola. And so now predation, which we think of as a natural part of an ecosystem, has been imbalanced by human climate impacts, creating an additional population pressure on the Hirola.

 

And lastly, though made illegal in 1997, poaching continues. Humans killing Hirola with snares and guns.

 

Conservation

Fortunately the Tsavo subpopulation lives entirely on protected land. And in Garissa, the Hirola Conservation Program is protecting and restoring critical Hirola habitat through bush clearing, removing invasive plants and promoting native vegetation. They also mount anti-poaching patrols throughout the Hirola’s range.

 

Hirola are legally protected at the local, national, and international level.

 

In 2012, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Ishaqbini Community Conservancy, established a 6000 acre livestock-free and predator-proof sanctuary to breed and reintroduce Hirola into the wild within their historic range in eastern Kenya.

 

!n 2016, the Hirola Conservation Program, in partnership with locals, helped establish the Bura East Community Conservancy. This is 1800 sq miles of land that is collaboratively managed by indigenous semi-nomadic Somali people, who are exploring new ways to share feeding grounds for their livestock and resources with herds of Hirola.

 

A 2024 study found that the harmonious coexistence program reduced predation, poaching, and deforestation; aiding the recovery of the Hirola.

 

Nevertheless the Hirola has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and their population is in decline.

 

Our most recent counts estimate less than 250 Hirola remain in the wild.

Citations 21:29

Information for today’s show about the Hirola was compiled from:

 

Andanje, S. A., & Ottichilo, W. K. (1999). Population status and feeding habits of the translocated sub-population of Hunter’s antelope or hirola (Beatragus hunteri, Sclater, 1889) in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology, 37(1), 38–48. – https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2028.1999.00141.x

 

Andanje, S. A. (2002). Factors limiting the abundance and distribution of hirola (Beatragus hunteri) in Kenya [Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University]. Newcastle University eTheses. – http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1048

 

Ali, A. H., Kauffman, M. J., Amin, R., et al. (2018). Demographic drivers of a refugee species: Large-scale experiments guide strategies for reintroductions of hirola. Ecological Applications, 28, 275–283. – https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1664

 

Ali, A. H., & Kivai, S. (2026). Drivers of Hirola Antelope Diet Selection in Natural and Managed Habitat in Eastern Kenya. Ecology and Evolution, 16(1), e72980. – https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72980

 

iNaturalist – https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=-1.375032027&nelng=40.634809542&quality_grade=research&subview=map&swlat=-2.322767254&swlng=39.657286413&view=species

 

IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group. 2017. Beatragus hunteri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T6234A50185297. – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T6234A50185297.en

 

Jowers, M. J., Queirós, J., Resende Pinto, R., Ali, A. H., Mutinda, M., Angelone, S., Alves, P. C., & Godinho, R. (2020). Genetic diversity in natural range remnants of the critically endangered hirola antelope. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 190(1), 384–395. – https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz174

 

Kimitei, K.K., Kimanzi, J. and Andanje, S.A. (2015), Habitat suitability modelling for Hirola (Beatragus hunteri) in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology, 53: 550-559. – https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12248

 

Lundgren, E. J., Wallach, A. D., Svenning, J.-C., Schlaepfer, M. A., Andersson, A. L. A., & Ramp, D. (2024). Preventing extinction in an age of species migration and planetary change. Conservation Biology, 38(6), e14270. – https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14270

 

Olney, H. 2002. “Beatragus hunteri” (Online), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed June 8, 2026. – https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Beatragus_hunteri/

 

Probert, J., Evans, B., Andanje, S., Kock, R., & Amin, R. (2015). Population and habitat assessment of the Critically Endangered hirola Beatragus hunteri in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. Oryx, 49(3), 514–520. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313000902

 

Ruso, G. E. (2017). Beatragus hunteri (Artiodactyla: Bovidae). Mammalian Species, 49(955), 119–127. –  https://doi.org/10.1093/mspecies/sex015

 

Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirola

 

Yassin, M., Mohamed, A. M., Isiah, S., & Abdullahi, A. (2024). Assessment of Community Capacity Building and Recovery of the Hirola Antelope in Ijara Sub-County, Garrissa County, Kenya. American Journal of Environment Studies, 7(3), 1-16. – https://doi.org/10.47672/ajes.2094

For more information about Hirola conservation please see the Hirola Conservation Program at https://www.hirolaconservation.org

Music 23:47

Pledge 29:42

I honor the lives of all Hirola. I will commit their name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species. I grieve.

 

And so, in the name of the Hirola I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant and animal kin and their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.

 

I forever pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.