Growing up in the remote areas of East Africa is wildly different than growing up in a major city anywhere in the world. In the bush, you are not separated from nature, you are a part of it. This cultivates a desire to protect the land you live and depend on, ensuring that it will take care of you. But that land depends on a functioning ecosystem to have a biologically thriving home.

Every single one of Big Life’s 342 trained rangers come from within our area of operation, or immediately adjacent to it. Nearly all of our community rangers are Maasai, although there are a few Wakamba from the Chyulu Hills. Being local means they already know the ecosystem in and out, helpful during night operations and while on patrol. They speak a variety of languages including Maa, Kikamba, and Kiswahili.

They range in age from 18 to 65 years old and will typically work as a ranger for at least a decade or two. Some of Big Life’s rangers have even inspired their own children to grow up and become wildlife rangers, inspiring a new generation of wildlife heroes. Currently, Big Life employs five sons of retired rangers, and two sons of current rangers. Big Life’s community rangers are an inspiration to their local communities, families, as well as the world.

The Maasai tribe is as iconic as the wildlife and landscape they co-exist with. Their livelihood is semi-nomadic and pastoral, herding cattle and goats. In fact, all Big Life rangers keep livestock in addition to their regular duties and most also have small holding farms.  

Big Life’s community rangers all call the Greater Amboseli ecosystem home, and no one knows how to protect it better than they do. Their culture and way of life is predicated upon having a healthy ecosystem to live in. While working as a Big Life ranger provides the obvious major benefit of employment, other benefits include access to healthcare, family planning, and education.

We are grateful to all of our brave men and women who risk their lives in the field daily to protect the wildlife and wild lands of East Africa for the benefit of us all. And we are equally grateful for our supporters around the world that have invested in the success of our rangers.

Throughout the month of July leading up to World Ranger Day on July 31^st, we’ll introduce you to several of our dedicated rangers and share stories from the field.  

Please show your support of their efforts to protect the Greater Amboseli ecosystem with a donation today. By joining our Ranger Club as a monthly donor, you’ll receive special perks, including 20% off Big-Life-branded merchandise in Big Life’s e-store. New Ranger Club members, or existing members who increase their giving amount, will be entered to win select items from our e-store weekly throughout July.

Sign up today.

Photo: Clifford Pickett

It feels like we’ve been here before.

In 2009, the rains failed, following three years of poor rainfall. The resulting drought was one of the most severe in living memory. At its worst, as many as 100 animals a day were dying of starvation. By the time the rains arrived, 83% of the wildebeest, 71% of the zebra, and more than 300 elephants (about 20% of the population at that time) in the Amboseli ecosystem had died.

Tens of thousands of animals succumbed, including the livestock that are the lifeblood of Maasai pastoralists. 75% of cattle died, as did 66% of sheep and goats. Many lost everything, and the trauma is still fresh in people’s minds.

Fast forward to today, and the long rains have just failed. Although we have just had three years of good rains, this has resulted in record high numbers of livestock and wildlife, which in turn has pushed grazing resources to the limit.

We needed rain, and it didn’t come. Nor will it until October at the very earliest. This is a runaway train that can’t be stopped.

Big Life’s rangers are already finding animals too weak to keep up with their herds. Some have started dying and we are bracing for a large die-off of herbivores as things get worse.

While daunting, we CAN help.

Human-wildlife conflict is escalating. For example, in January there were 8 incidents of elephants breaking through the electric crop-protection fence, in May there were 45. Elephants are already damaging pipes, water tanks, and other infrastructure. Big Life’s rangers will be running from one call for help to the next. Our vehicles and aircraft will be constantly on the move, at a time when fuel costs are skyrocketing.

As livestock become weak, they will get left behind, making them easy prey for predators. In desperate times like these, Big Life’s Predator Compensation Fund is a critical way of protecting predators like lions.

Bushmeat poaching is also likely to escalate, putting additional pressure on our rangers.

Humans will suffer terribly too. Combined with livestock losses, incomes are going to be squeezed, and hunger is already becoming a reality for many. We’re pulling a variety of programs together to support our communities, including a school lunch program, and a temporary work program to put money in pockets for food.

There is no doubt we are facing a difficult time, but we will do whatever we can to help wildlife and people through it and appreciate our ecosystem partners who will be doing the same.

If there was ever a time for everyone to step up, now is it.

Conservation efforts for an entire country like Kenya are not fulfilled by one group or person alone. It takes many people and organizations with a shared vision and active collaboration to make long-term wildlife and habitat protection work successful. In Kenya, this work is led by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the government entity that conserves and manages Kenya’s wildlife, and an important partner of Big Life Foundation.  

Big Life has over 450 field staff, including 342 trained community rangers, but there are 6 that have earned a special designation from KWS: Honorary Warden.

Candidates are selected after a rigorous selection process in the conservation area that the individual actively works in. Honorary wardens have several important roles and duties depending on their own individual skillset. Typically, this includes assistance with wildlife security, problematic animal management, conservation education, community engagement, wildlife translocation, wildlife census, species and ecosystem management, and fire management in protected areas.

It is no surprise that with decades of experience and relationships with the local community, that Big Life’s co-founder Richard Bonham has been an honorary warden for decades. KWS turns to him when needed, and he actively participates in operations that require input for official legislation. Richard was also chairman of the honorary wardens for the conservation area in which Big Life operates, the KWS’s Southern Conservation Area.

There are an additional five honorary wardens at Big Life, including: Chief Operating Officer Craig Millar, Commanding Officer (and Disney Conservation Hero) Francis Legei, Operation Commander James Kupere, Operation Commander Kasaine Nkurupe, and the most recent honorary warden, Daniel Ole Sambu, our Predator Protection Program Coordinator.

We are so proud of these individuals that are deserving of this recognition as conservation leaders in our area of operation.

(Pictured is Big Life Commanding Officer Francis Legei presenting Big Life Co-founder Richard Bonham a Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award.)

Today we celebrate the brilliant work done by our female rangers past, present, and future. Whether conducting foot patrols, finding snares, catching poachers, teaching new recruits, or preventing elephant crop raids, a day in the life of these women is anything but ordinary.

In Maasai culture, like so many things, conservation and anti-poaching work has been dominated by men, while women are raised to become dutiful wives and caring mothers. Big Life’s 10 female rangers, however, are bucking the trend. With their quiet determination and bright smiles, these women are not only becoming part of the solution to protect wildlife, but also blazing a trail for future female leaders, proving to the world that conservation is everyone’s business.

Craig Millar, Big Life’s COO, believes that these women are playing a vital role in changing the status quo: “In this part of Kenya, equality of the sexes is far behind most of the world, and it has only been in the past few years where the prospect of having female rangers has even been a possibility. Being properly employed gives women more freedom and control over their lives. Add in the fact that they’re a ranger with the ability to enforce rules and laws, and it’s a huge step forward.”

We’re very lucky to have these women on our team and we’re proud of the work all of our rangers do all year round, protecting wildlife and wild lands in East Africa.

In the words of Ann Maloi, Big Life’s Radio Room Operator who tragically passed away last year after a battle with cancer: “It’s not written anywhere that a lady can’t, or shouldn’t, be a ranger. Everything that men can do, women can do too. As long as you’re passionate, you can do it. In fact, you can probably do it better.”