It is estimated perhaps 5,000 Grevy's zebras remain in the wild.

Grevy's zebra live in arid, open bushed grassland. Their range formerly occurred from central Ethiopia to Somalia and northern Kenya. However due to poaching, it is now found only in northeastern Ethiopia and in some reserves in Kenya

Poaching of Grevy's zebras was a major problem during the 1970's, during which time many zebras were killed so their skins could be used in fashion. It wasn’t until 1976, when Kenya passed protection laws that the zebra didn’t have to worry if it’s legacy was only to be a fashion statement.

However, new problems now exist which continue to threaten the Grevy’s zebra survival.

The primary of these threats is the loss of grazing habitat and access to water due to competition with increasing herds of domestic livestock. Also, irrigation for these livestock has apparently reduced river flow and decreased the availability of surface water in parts of its Kenyan range.

Also, according to some reports, an additional threat to Grevy’s zebra is the ‘uncontrolled tourism’ in some of the reserves that are supposed to protect the animals. This tourism is apparently destroying the vegetation the need to survive.