Elephants Walking Through Grass, Amboseli 2008. Leading Matriarch Killed By Poachers, 2009, ©Nick Brandt
Big Life Rangers with tusks killed at the hands of man, Amboseli 2011, ©Nick Brandt
WELCOME TO BIG LIFE FOUNDATION
Big Life was co-founded by photographer Nick Brandt and award-winning conservationist Richard Bonham in September 2010.
Since its inception, Big Life has expanded to employ hundreds of Maasai rangers—with more than 40 permanent outposts and tent-based field units, 13 vehicles, tracker dogs, and aerial surveillance—protecting 2 million acres of wilderness in the Amboseli-Tsavo-Kilimanjaro ecosystem of East Africa.
Big Life was the first organization in East Africa to establish coordinated cross-border anti-poaching operations.
by Big Life Rangers
1890328
2391Arrests since 2011 |
3549Poaching tools seized since 2011 |
-
$250
...will pay for the salary and upkeep of one ranger for one month.
-
$300
...will keep the Super Cub plane in Kenya in the air for one hour of aerial monitoring.
-
$350
...will equip and replace equipment for a ranger for one year.
-
$450
...will purchase a camera trap in the rhino habitat area.
-
$1000
...will purchase a hand-held Radio for rangers
-
$1500
...will cover fuel costs on one vehicle for one month.
-
$3000
...will cover the costs of the informer network for one month in both countries.
-
$3000
...will pay for a set of Night Vision Surveillance equipment.
-
$3000
...will pay for one month of both tracker dog units in Kenya and Tanzania.
-
$4000
...will pay for one lightweight mobile camping unit.
-
$55,000
...will cover the cost of a new anti-poaching vehicle.
Big Life Endorsements
We are very honored that two legends of the African conservation community, Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Cynthia Moss, have endorsed the work that Big Life is doing in the Amboseli ecosystem...
Join Big Life's Monthly Giving Program: Ranger Club
Join the Ranger Club, our monthly giving program, at a level appropriate for you, and become a part of our community. Your generosity will help to fund our programs throughout the year, including the seemingly never-ending work of our rangers. By joining, you support more than just our rangers, who work tirelessly to protect elephants, rhinos, lions and other animals from poaching and retaliatory killing due to human-wildlife conflict.
Learn more, and sign up to join the Ranger Club today.
LIONS UNSCATHED IN CLASH OF MAASAI WARRIORS
It was a fight that went to the very end. Two warriors locked in battle, matching each other’s every move. This was the final sporting event of Big Life Foundation's Maasai Olympics - lead sponsored by National Geographic and major sponsored
Big Life News
-
THE ELEPHANTS’ (LITERAL) LINE IN THE SAND : CHAPTER TWO
It’s working well. Just as we hoped. The elephants are no longer walking into a likely war zone. Last year, many of you contributed to the creation of a line of life-saving protection for the elephants of the Amboseli ecosystem.
-
SHUTTING DOWN SUPPLY – ANOTHER IVORY BUST
It started simply enough as they all do: with a phone call. One of Big Life’s informers caught wind of a clue and alerted our trained intelligence team. From there, it can take several days or even weeks, but eventually, an ambush is laid
-
ANOTHER BIG YEAR
A Note from Richard Bonham, Director of Operations: “Every day, I see ‘situation reports’ come in from Big Life’s Radio Room, records of anything of note that has taken place across the Amboseli/Tsavo/Kilimanjaro
-
IVORY DEALERS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN AMBOSELI
The Big Life informer network never sleeps. It’s a web of eyes and ears, spun wide and lying in wait for the prey: the dealers of illegal wildlife products. And it is proving to be increasingly successful. The most recent catch was two days
-
HONORING SATAO 2
Three years ago, Satao, one of the greatest remaining big tusker elephants in East Africa, was gunned down in his prime by poachers for his ivory. Today, we mourn another of these last giant tuskers: Satao 2, killed by poachers
-
THE TROUBLE WITH ELEPHANTS
Mayoyo Kutata is lucky to be alive. Last week, the 30-year-old mother of four was herding the family goats in the late afternoon and stopped to chop some wood for the evening cooking. Caught up in the routine of these daily tasks, she didn’t
Bush Journal
A BAD WEEK FOR THE BAD GUYS
Ivory is still moving along the trade routes that traverse Kenya, but so is Big Life. Our intelligence network is spreading far and wide, the most recent demonstration being the arrest, working with a Kenya Wildlife Service undercover unit,
Radio Room
28 June 2017
Elephants damaged a thorn fence & 3 trees inside a boma // 1 person arrested for assault // Livestock found illegally grazing // Lion killed 1 donkey // Cheetah killed 1 goat // Elephants raided 2 farms, community upset
26 June 2017
Elephants raided 2 farms // Lion killed 2 lost cows in 2 incidents // Hyena killed 1 goat & 1 cow in 2 incidents // Cheetah killed 3 goats in 3 incidents
23 June 2017
1 suspect arrested with giraffe meat // Hyena killed 2 cows, 3 calves, 1 donkey, & 7 goats in 8 separate incidents // Elephants raided 1 farm and damaged water pipes at another
22 June 2017
1 zebra killed by vehicle // 1 suspect arrested with 5 snares for bush-meat poaching // Elephants moved away from farms // Hyena killed 2 lost goat & 1 cow // Cheetah killed 1 lost cow
21 June 2017
Cheetah killed 6 goats & 1 calf in 3 incidents // Hyena killed 6 goats & 1 calf in 6 incidents // Elephants raided 1 farm // Rangers moved elephants away from other farms
