To the untrained eye, it’s just a pile of dirt. Nothing remarkable about it. But it’s hiding something insidious: a charcoal kiln.

Last week, Big Life rangers helped arrest 8 suspects with 165 bags of charcoal. The charcoal came from the operation of 7 kilns, like the one seen here.

Illegal charcoal production, or charcoaling, is a problem across Kenya but especially in more remote areas where electricity and gas prices are higher. By felling trees, and burning them in low temperature underground ovens, charcoal can be produced relatively easily but at great cost.

The combined impact of deforestation and increased carbon emissions led to a ban on charcoal production in Kenya five years ago. Many critical species, including acacias, are used for charcoal production, with huge implications for local ecosystems including wildlife food and refuge, as well as water retention and erosion control.

This bust is the biggest Big Life’s rangers have conducted so far this year, and hopefully the last.

  
A giraffe carries no ivory, nor a horn to be ground into some entirely ineffectual traditional medicine. This most gentle of animals is simply big, and that is sadly a life-threatening trait.

Each pound of wild animal flesh has value in the commercial bushmeat market and it’s a straightforward equation; the bigger the animal the more money for the poacher. Last week, Big Life rangers responded to two separate incidents involving giraffes (or twiga, in Swahili).

The first was a snare around the neck of an adult male. The giraffe had broken free of the snare, but it was tightly wound around his neck and required veterinary assistance to dart him and remove it. Thanks to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vet from Amboseli, this happened quickly and efficiently.

The second giraffe was found with a spear hanging from his side, a more dire medical situation. KWS rangers called in the Sheldrick-supported vet from Voi in Tsavo, who quickly made it over to our side of the ecosystem to treat the giraffe. 

So far, both giraffes are looking good. The incidents occurred on Rombo ranch, and Big Life’s rangers there will continue to monitor them to make sure they make a full recovery.  Giraffe numbers in Kenya have declined from 73,000 to 27,000 over the past three decades. However, the giraffe population in Big Life’s area of operation has doubled over the past 10 years, now reaching nearly 7,000. This makes Amboseli not just a giraffe stronghold for Kenya, but a home for a significant proportion of Africa’s estimated 117,000 giraffes (of all species).

This relative safety is thanks to the tireless work of Big Life’s rangers, as well as our partners in the ecosystem. As we head into the worst stretch of the dry season bushmeat poaching tends to increase, and giraffes will be a primary target. Thank you for supporting our rangers, so that they can stand in the way.

Vultures occupy one of the least glamorous niches in many people’s estimations. But regardless of whether you may find them ugly or revolting, they are highly intelligent creatures who fulfill the crucial role of being the natural world’s clean-up crew. In the wake of the recent drought that devastated Amboseli, their role was doubly important.

Yet for these nomads of the endless horizon, fate hangs in the balance.

Since the 1980s, the trajectory of almost all vulture populations in Africa has been a near nosedive. With the rise in cheap and readily available poisons and pesticides, pastoralists found an effective means of retaliating against lions, hyenas, and other predators that kill their livestock. It’s a simple and deadly formula: lace a carcass with poison and wait as all the predators that return to it die a slow death, doing so alongside the countless vultures who got there first. As a result, six out of the seven vulture species in Kenya are listed as threatened, with four being critically endangered.

It was partly in response to the high frequency of lion poisoning events in Mbirikani that our Predator Protection Program was implemented in 2003, including our Predator Compensation Fund. In the two decades since, poisoning events have been reduced to almost zero across our area of operation. While lions and other predators are the primary focus of those programs, it’s not an accident that vultures are also benefiting.

It will take a shift in human behavior at a global scale to reverse these birds’ fortunes as their ranges exceed mere regional and national boundaries. But as we have shown, change is possible, and we are proud to do what we can to ensure these regal raptors still soar over Amboseli’s skies.

Photo: Josh Clay

Some dogs spend their lives in lofty apartments barking at pigeons, others exist perpetually in pursuit of tennis balls, or waiting semi-patiently for their next meal. But here at Big Life, our tracker dogs do things a little differently. Throughout their illustrious careers, Bonnie and Clyde have hunted down poachers, discovered hidden caches of ivory, and helped solve multiple thefts and petty crimes. 

In the past few months, they have patrolled over 750 km, assisted in two cases of theft where they led our rangers straight to the stolen items, and helped find two people who had become lost in dense bush. One was a young girl who had strayed a little too far, and the other couldn’t find her way home after being chased by an elephant. Both were found and returned to their families.  It’s all in a day’s work for our remarkable canine duo!  Photo: James Suter