There are just 2,500 Grevy’s zebra left in the world and IBM technology is helping a conservation group’s effort to protect the endangered species using data analysis technology in developing a sustainable conservation plan.

The group, Marwell Wildlife, is conducting a survey in northern Kenya and talking to herdsmen about their view of the zebra, the threats facing the species and where the zebra ten to congregate so that protections against hunting can be put in place. The Grevy’s zebra is the largest species of zebra, and was first discovered by the Europeans.

The survey results will help on understanding herders’ attitudes and provide a greater understanding of the life cycle and threats of the species.

The group is using IBM’s SPSS predictive analytics software.

For example, one reason hunters target the zebra is because its body fat is a main ingredient in many traditional medicines used by herding communities. Access to more modern medicines would help ease the hunting pressures on the species.

" The data from the surveys is vast and complex and requires powerful software to analyze it. The software is ideal for identifying trends and patterns from this data," said Dr. Guy Parker, head of Biodiversity Management at Marwell Wildlife.

" Furthermore, we were able to determine what influence factors such as education level, age, location, and wildlife benefits had upon peoples' attitudes. This is the kind of complex multi-variate analysis that the IBM predictive analytics software is designed to tackle."