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TheLewa Wildlife Conservancy (also known asLewa Downs) is located in northernKenya. It was formed in 1995 (30 years ago) (1995) and is a wildlife sanctuary which together with the adjacentNgare Ndare Forest covers over 62,000 acres (250 km2). The Conservancy is home to a wide variety of wildlife including the rare and endangeredblack rhinos,Grevy's zebras andsitatungas. It also includes the big five (lion,leopards,elephants,rhinos andCape buffaloes). Lewa holds over 12% of Kenya'seastern black rhinoceros population and the largest single population of Grevy's zebras in the world (approximately 350 individuals).
Lewa has its own education program that helps develop schools and students. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is located inMeru County, south ofIsiolo town but north ofMount Kenya.
The Craig-Douglas family were allocated the land by the British colonial government in 1922 and managed it as a cattle ranch for over 50 years.In 1983, the Craigs andAnna Merz, who funded the program, decided to establish the fenced and guarded Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary at the western end of Lewa Downs.[1]Ten years later, the sanctuary was expanded to cover the rest of the ranch, and in 1994 the adjoiningNgare Ndare Forest Reserve was included within the fence, creating a 26,700-hectare (66,000-acre) wildlife preserve.[2] In 2001, Lewa partnered withGerald Chamales to change his company's name to Rhinotek Computer Products, when the company began sending part of its annual revenue to support Lewa.[3]
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In 2015, Edward Ndiritu, employed at Lewa as head of the Anti-Poaching Unit and the Northern Rangeland Trust, received the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award fromPrince William.[4]