Name: Sinkoi Kanchori
Position: Sergeant
Age: 55
Location: Chyulu Hills Unit

How did Sinkoi Kanchori begin at Big Life?
Before joining Big Life, Sinkoi was a pastoralist, keeping livestock and doing a little farming on the side. But in 2008 the ecosystem suffered what went on to become a severe two-year drought. Sinkoi lost much of his livestock and was without an income, but he heard that the Maasailand Preservation Trust (which later became Big Life Foundation in 2010) was hiring. So at age 41, he applied and got the job.

What do you like most about being a ranger?
“I enjoy being a ranger because it provides me with a steady salary. This means I can look after my family and pay for my children’s school fees. I am also proud to protect the landscape I grew up in, and I would be very sad to see iconic animals like lions, giraffes, rhinos, and elephants disappear. My work as ranger ensures that the wild animals that were so plentiful when I was a boy can continue to prosper in this ecosystem.”

What is your proudest moment?
“When I was promoted to sergeant and took charge of a team of rangers.”

What are your hopes for the future?
“I believe Big Life is one of the best wildlife organizations around for many reasons, but in particular because it is so comprehensive in the different ways in which it helps the community. Not only does Big Life protect wildlife, but it also provides healthcare for the local community, as well as scholarships for kids in school. Having close ties with the community at grassroots level is the most important factor in ensuring the success of any NGO, and I think Big Life is excellent at addressing the needs of the local people.”

What is your favorite animal?
“I really enjoy being able to see animals as they roam around in their natural habitat. Where I am currently based in the Chyulu Hills, I see many exciting animals like elephants, giraffes, and sometimes lions. I would say that lions, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos are my favorites. I have been lucky enough to see the black rhinos of the Chyulus - although during a year of patrolling, I only saw them on three occasions. All of these animals are important for the ecosystem, and it would be a great shame if our children were to grow up without seeing them.” 

Support rangers like Sinkoi by becoming a monthly donor and joining our Ranger Club. All Ranger Club members 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.

Big Life currently has 10 female rangers and one of them is Constable Susan Manyanga Lemomo. Like most of Big Life’s rangers, Susan is Maasai. She is also a mother of three and was part of Big Life’s first cohort of female rangers three years ago.

Susan grew up near Amboseli National Park and as a child she frequently encountered wildlife while playing in the bush or while helping her brothers tend to their parent’s livestock. Becoming a ranger has given her the chance to protect the wildlife she has come to love. Like many of us, Susan has a soft spot for elephants because of the way elephant family members look after each other.

In a typical day, Susan will patrol 18 or more miles on foot while looking for snares, injured wildlife, charcoal burning and illegal deforestation. Her team rests during the afternoon when the sun is hottest, and then in the evenings she’ll find the tallest hill in the area to continue looking out for any signs of poaching or illegal activity.

At night, when elephants raid community farms, Susan and her team will respond to drive the elephants back towards conservancies or protected areas.

Susan is also a skillful interlocutor when conflict situations arise. She recently went with two other rangers to investigate a report of a cow being killed by a lion. The herder was furious and accused Susan and the other rangers of sending the lion to kill his cows, waving at her violently with his spear. But Susan remained calm. She assured the man that Big Life would compensate him for his lost cow, underlining how it was impossible that anyone had sent the lion, and reminded him that if he attacked her, he would go to prison. Her calmness and diplomacy helped to diffuse the situation.

Asante Sana to Susan and all of our rangers for staying calm under pressure and getting the job done.

Support rangers like Susan by becoming a monthly donor and joining our Ranger Club. All Ranger Club members 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.

Where Big Life’s rangers are stationed, there are no restaurants, no pizza delivery, nor many grocery stores. Meal planning for 340+ rangers in the bush is no small feat.

Big Life rangers primarily work from outposts, which means that they prepare their own breakfast, lunch, and dinner on-the-go, out in the field, without the help of a fully-stocked kitchen.

A typical breakfast consists of chai, uji (a fermented porridge made from cornmeal), leftover ugali (cornmeal cooked with water to a thick consistency), or chapatis (thin pancakes) with sugar. Lunch is almost always a big bowl of rice and beans. There’s another round of chai in the afternoon. Then dinner is likely ugali eaten together with a meat and vegetable stew or Sukuma wiki (collard greens cooked with other vegetables).

To get food out to remote outposts, dry goods are purchased in bulk, then divided out at headquarters, and delivered by truck once each month.

The monthly food order for 340+ rangers is immense:

• 1.56 tons of corn flour
• 1.3 tons of rice
• 1.04 tons of soy beans
• 1,642 lbs sugar
• 1,080 lbs cooking fat
• 771 lbs powdered milk
• 771 lbs wheat flour
• 595 lbs salt
• 67 packs of stock cubes
• 119 lbs tea leaves

Rangers also receive a group stipend for meat and fresh vegetables, which they determine how to spend. Unfortunately, food costs in Kenya have risen sharply this year as a result of inflation and a worsening drought. What used to cost $18,000/month for ranger food and supply rations has risen sharply to $27,000/month.

Inflation is a global issue and is likely affecting everyone, but if you have the ability and desire to help, we would be incredibly grateful. Please support our rangers and join in the work to save wildlife and wild lands by joining our Ranger Club as a monthly donor. All members receive special perks, including 20% off 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.

Sharp-eyed Big Life supporters will have seen Richard Bonham and Samar Ntalamia on several national news channels in Kenya this week. This is because Big Life has just celebrated the opening of a new girls’ dormitory at Inkoisuk Primary School, located just a few kilometres from Big Life’s HQ in Kajiado county. After raising close to $80,000 USD from donors and supporters, the newly constructed 96-bed dormitory will ensure that these girls will no longer have to travel long distances to receive a proper education, making it far safer for them to do so.

Some of the girls who will be staying in the dormitory described how they felt about it:

Payiaton Kiariandi, 13, explained, “I am very excited and relieved to be staying in this new dormitory because I used to have to cycle to school every day which would take 3 hours each way. School finishes at 17:30 and I would have to cycle home in the dark. It was very scary at times because I had to cycle along the main road and there were lots of fast cars and animals around. Now I don’t have to worry about that so I can concentrate on my education, as it is something that is very important to me.”

Her enthusiasm was echoed by Veronica Nailantei, 14, “I am looking forward to staying in the new dormitory because I will be much closer to my teachers, which means I will greatly improve my studies. I want to become a nurse and now that I can live at school, I am confident I will do well in my exams.”

Grace Kipres, 13, said, “I am also happy because now that we will be living in the dormitory, there will be far fewer girls getting pregnant, so we will be much more able to concentrate on our studies.” This is especially important considering Kajiado county ranks as one of the highest in Kenya for pregnancies between the ages of 10 – 17.

Samar Ntalamia, who manages Big Life’s education programs, concluded that, “The best way to secure the future of wildlife conservation on communal lands is to generate tangible economic benefits to the communities which host wildlife on their lands. The most effective way to empower local communities is by improving access to education through students’ scholarships, as well as improving the quality of education by supporting local schools.”

We are grateful to have collaborated on this project with The Elephant Foundation, and thankful to all the donors who were extraordinarily passionate about making this dorm a reality. Improving local community access to education is just one of the many ways Big Life upholds our core ethos: that if conservation supports the people, people will support conservation.

Photo: Josh Clay

(Payiaton Kiariandi on the left, Grace Kipres in the middle, and Veronica Nailantei on the right)