Isinya is a hot, dusty town situated along the Namanga Highway, a key artery connecting Nairobi to Tanzania. It’s a key refueling station for the hundreds of trucks that pass through it every day. And for those who might be tempted, a seemingly perfect location to sell illicit items before disappearing without a trace.

To combat this, Big Life has built a wide and highly effective network of informers across Kenya and Tanzania to ensure such people are exposed and prosecuted.

That is exactly what happened to two men attempting to sell 24 pieces of ivory weighing 56 kg near a shopping center in Isinya last week. Using Big Life intelligence, a KWS agent acted as a buyer while another team swooped in to make the arrest. This bust brings the total ivory confiscated this year to 213 kg. While it is suspected that the tusks are 2-4 years old, it continues an upward trend we’ve been tracking in ivory trafficking.

According to our data, there was a clear reduction in confiscated ivory from 2017 to 2021, dropping from 1,000 kg to 370 kg. But alarmingly, these numbers have been creeping back up. Last year, we confiscated 1,482 kg, the most since our records began in 2016.

It is very difficult to point the finger at any one cause. But is likely due to a combination of “opportunistic” ivory sales following high elephant mortalities during the recent drought, lower farm yields and labor opportunities, overshadowed by nationwide rates of inflation and rising cost of living that could be making such incomes from illegal means appear more attractive. The rate of elephant poaching, while still low, has also risen elsewhere in Kenya since 2020.

The illegal trade in elephant ivory is a serious threat. Big Life's intelligence network and partnership with KWS are critical in the fight against this trade. Together, we continue to demonstrate that wildlife conservation is a collaborative effort that spans governmental organizations, NGOs, and the local community.

We want to end the week on an uplifting note.

Last November, we shared the exciting news of a new baby rhino calf in the Chyulu Hills area. It was tiny and vulnerable and we had lost many at this age before, so our hope was also tempered by worry.

Big Life and KWS rangers kept close tabs on the camera traps in the area it had been seen, and tracks were also helping us keep tabs on it. Then the signs dried up, and weeks went by. It wasn’t necessarily bad news, but it was concerning.

So imagine our excitement in spotting it on camera again: bigger and still very much alive.

The Eastern black rhino is critically endangered. There are estimated to be fewer than 1,000 remaining, so this calf is a major event, taking our resident population from 7 to 8. The calf is still young, but every day that it survives, it gets stronger and more likely to make it to adulthood.

These are some of the last wild and unfenced black rhinos in East Africa and the remnants of a population that we intend to re-establish as a stronghold for the species in Kenya.

Thanks to Big Life’s rangers, working in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service, we haven’t lost a single rhino to poachers in more than 8 years, but births have been rare in such a small population.

These are the successes that make it all worthwhile. Thank you to all who support our rhino program, particularly USFWS and Chester Zoo, as well as our partners at Royal African Safaris.

There aren’t many ways to stop a bullet and Kevlar armor doesn’t come in ‘Super Tusker’ size. We’re hoping a tracking collar will be the next best thing because Esau needs it.

Esau is extraordinary. Only 34 years old, his tusks are already past the 100-pound mark, putting him in the rare company of Super Tuskers, of which as few as 50 remain across Africa.

Esau is the nephew of Echo, one of Amboseli’s most famous matriarchs. We know his life story thanks to the amazing work done by Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

Their data shows that at least 20% of Amboseli’s elephants cross the border into Tanzania, including Esau. Until now, he has had little to fear thanks to cross-border anti-poaching operations, but a new threat lurks across the invisible border.

After more than two decades, trophy hunters have started hunting elephants in this area of northern Tanzania again. Three have been killed since last September, at least two of them reported to be Super Tuskers. Esau would be a prime target.

Hearing this, our friends at Mara Elephant Project provided a tracking collar through their partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service and Wildlife Research and Training Institute. During the planning phase, Esau received an injury to his trunk, likely during a fight with another bull, and the opportunity to treat it added further impetus to the exercise.

Timing was everything. Rangers followed his movements on both sides of the border, and when he crossed into Kenya, the teams were ready.

Save the Elephants sent specialists to assist with the collar fitting and the operation was an extraordinary display of cooperation and transboundary commitment to protecting these bulls. Nine entities were involved, including Big Life-supported rangers from the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania.

Esau's collar will provide invaluable data on the movements of a male approaching his breeding prime, but more importantly it could save his life, as research animals are 'off-limits' for hunters.

Special thanks to Kenya Wildlife Service, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Olgulului Community Rangers, and IFAW in addition to those already mentioned. Photo & Video: Jeremy Goss

A third elephant has been killed by trophy hunters in northern Tanzania, in a part of the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem.

Previous hunts took place late last year and both elephants killed were reported to be Super Tuskers (with one or both tusks weighing 100lbs or more). All carcasses were burned, making identification impossible, but the three are almost certainly from the cross-border Amboseli population.

Decades of research has shown this area of northern Tanzania, including the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area where Big Life supports community rangers, to be an integral part of the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem. The border is open and at least 20% of Amboseli’s elephants cross into Tanzania each year.

Our understanding is that these hunts were legal. While we respect Tanzania’s right to choose how it manages its natural resources, we believe strongly that there is no justification for hunting such rare and valuable animals.

There are about 10 Super Tuskers left in the Amboseli Ecosystem, and likely as few as 50 across Africa, and these males are especially important.

Old bulls are not past their reproductive prime, as hunters contend. Research has shown that elephant bulls only reproduce consistently by age 40, by which time 75% of them will have died. So older bulls are in fact disproportionately important for breeding.

Old males play an important social role, keeping boisterous young males in check, curtailing their aggression.

Living elephants are also extremely valuable to local economies. A study found that an average elephant attracts $1.6m in tourism spending over its lifetime, but this value is much higher for a Super Tusker.

Finally, there are ethical questions about hunting elephants that are extremely habituated, having grown up near people, and the violation of ‘fair chase’ principles.

We join all concerned parties in urging authorities to formalise the historic moratorium on elephant hunting in areas near the Kenya-Tanzania border, to protect this special population.

We thank our partners at Amboseli Trust for Elephants and Elephant Voices for the data here and a joint statement can be read on our websites. Photo: Jeremy Goss