A Bounty-ful LIfe

 Joseph 

 In the summer of 2020, two unique and special characters were destined to meet. Joseph, a young man who was working at the stables in Loisaba, and Bounty, an orphaned – and endangered – Grevy’s Zebra.

Joseph tells us, “I am originally from Njikaze which is between Nanyuki and Timau, a few hours from Loisaba. This is my first job and previously I had been helping my mother with our shamba (small farm/plot of land). I had never worked with horses before but I took to them straight away and I enjoy my job.”

Joseph, who is 23 years old, started work at Loisaba in 2019. He quickly learned to ride and with his naturally quiet energy he had a calming influence on the horses. He has become involved in the training of a young pony called Ducati – son of Yamaha, an Ethiopian pony, and a little black mare called Full Moon. Recently he has been teaching Ducati how to go forward on long reins and to wear a bit in preparation for being ridden. 

Work begins at 6 in the morning with feeding and grooming. Most mornings, Joseph goes out hacking with the other grooms, Eugene, Kelvin, Silas and Kennedy, taking out one of the finely-bred horses. The rest of his day is spent washing the other horses and turning them all out, as well as cleaning out the stables, checking and cleaning equipment. Often there are visitors booked to go out on rides too. As the heat goes out of the day towards the evening Joseph might train one of the young horses. The horses are all fed again at 6.30 p.m.

Some months after his arrival at Loisaba, Joseph took on a fresh responsibility looking after a one month old orphaned Grevy’s, Bounty, who had been found wandering home with the Samburu Cattle on the Ewaso Village Community land. 

“There was no sign of his mother,” says Joseph, “and we don’t know what happened to her. Fortunately for Bounty, the community let Security at Loisaba know about the young zebra and it gave him the chance to live.”

Jo (Silvester) who has overall responsibility for the horses at Loisaba offered to take the zebra immediately and the Head of Security went to fetch him straight away. It was critical that the young animal received food and care as soon as possible because orphaned animals are so vulnerable – sadly two orphaned zebras had not made it the year before, a female Grevy’s because she had become too dehydrated before she was rescued, and a very young Common Zebra which had been attacked by dogs.

As soon as Bounty arrived at Loisaba a plan was put in place for him to be fed on camel milk at regular intervals through the day and night. Joseph set up a stall for him and he took care of him. 

“I began to spend a lot of time with the foal,” says Joseph, “and he seemed to become increasingly attached to me and to allow me to put a headcollar on him when no-one else could. He didn’t seem to be bothered about the other horses and instead began to follow me around the grounds while I was doing my work. He became my regular companion and when I am off duty at home, I know that he misses me, and I miss him.”

In the long term the hope is that Bounty will rehabilitate to being wild but will remain close to the stables where he will be protected from predators. There are only 2000 Grevy’s zebras left in the wild and therefore it is important that he is returned to as natural a life as is possible so that eventually he might breed. 

Joseph is an integral part of reintroducing Bounty to that natural environment and has begun to take him out for walks, loose, so that Bounty can get to know his surroundings and potentially meet other Grevy’s zebra. Excitingly, he has started to follow Joseph when he goes out riding which may enable him to be introduced to a female group of Grevy’s that have been spotted nearby; care will have to be taken however to avoid any dominant male. In the meantime Joseph will have to watch out for any changes in Bounty’s temperament, as Grevy’s Zebras can be quite aggressive once they reach maturity. For now, Joseph is enjoying a very special relationship with the foal who allows him to pick up his feet and touch him all over. This is a privilege only reserved for Joseph which may turn out to be a blessing if it means that Bounty keeps away from other people.