It’s easy to get depressed following the death of an iconic and much-loved elephant such as Tolstoy and be angry at the fact that he died at the hands of man. But there is an antidote to those thoughts, and that is to look around us here in Amboseli.

Tolstoy’s death as a result of human-wildlife conflict is tragic, and we will be mourning his loss for some time. The good news, however, is that such deaths are increasingly rare in Amboseli. Through the whole of 2021, we recorded only 3 human-elephant conflict-related deaths in our area of operation (out of a population of approximately 2,000 elephants).

Big Life’s crop-protection fence has been hugely successful, coupled with the extraordinary commitment of rangers who spend their nights protecting farms from elephant crop-raids in areas that are not yet fenced. Without this fence or these rangers, Tolstoy would have fallen victim to conflict years ago.

The elephant population of the Amboseli Ecosystem is the highest it’s been in 50 years of monitoring. This is remarkable given the threats that the species faces. Furthermore, Amboseli is still home to what is arguably the highest density (relative to overall population size) of large-tusked elephants in Africa. Craig is one of the biggest, and this picture of him was taken just days ago in the Kimana Sanctuary, where he arrived after Tolstoy’s death.

There are many others that will grow to this astonishing size if they are protected, including many of Tolstoy’s offspring. And there are a lot of people working hard to afford them this protection. We appreciate all of our ecosystem partners, including the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. It is thanks to their incredible research work that we know the life histories of Amboseli’s magnificent tuskers, as well as the richness of the social bonds that bind this special population together.

Thank you to everyone who sent messages following Tolstoy’s death.  We truly appreciate it. We are still sad, but as focused as ever on protecting the rest of his kind here in Amboseli, by working together with the communities that share space with them.

Photo: Shaun Mousley

“This is so painful.”

These few words spoken by ranger Daudi Ninaai describe well how we are all feeling at Big Life. Tolstoy, one of Africa’s biggest ‘tusker’ elephants, and an icon of the Amboseli ecosystem, has died at 51 years old.

He was speared in the leg 6 weeks ago, almost certainly by a farmer defending his crops from one of Tolstoy’s nighttime crop raids. The wound was treated, but the resultant infection has ultimately had the worst possible consequences.

Big Life’s rangers in Kimana Sanctuary have been monitoring Tolstoy since his treatment. Yesterday morning, they found him lying down. This was not unusual for an elephant who took frequent horizontal naps despite his enormous size, but upon getting closer, the rangers could see signs of his failed struggle to stand up. They knew that this time was different.

Tolstoy was still alive and two Kenya Wildlife Service vet units (both funded by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust) responded. He was given further treatment, but getting him on his feet again was unlikely from the start. For hours the rangers and vets tried to pull him up with vehicles and ropes, with no success. A front-end loader was called in as a last desperate attempt, but Tolstoy was just too weak to stand.

With the rescue team running out of ideas, and night fast approaching, Tolstoy finally ran out of strength and died, surrounded by the rangers who have looked over him for so long.

Ranger Job Lekanayia is one of these: “Today is the saddest day in my job as a ranger, having lost one of the elephants that I treasured the most. We tried everything that we could. I thought he would wake up, but he just couldn’t lift himself up.”

After 50 years on earth, there isn’t much that Tolstoy hadn’t seen. And there isn’t much that looks the same. His home has been transformed by the human species, and it is the consequences of rapidly expanding farmlands that eventually killed him.

His death is a reminder of the vulnerability of even the largest of animals, as well as the urgent need to protect habitat for wildlife and manage the interface between wild animals and human activities. There are solutions, and we are making progress despite a tragic setback such as this.

Over his long time on this planet, Tolstoy had a positive impact on countless people, and will be remembered as a calm and gentle giant. As ranger Lekanayia says, “All I can say is: rest in peace Tolstoy, we will miss you.”

Top photo: Josh Clay

Bottom photo: Jeremy Goss

Mother’s Day will be here soon! You can honor the matriarch in your life by donating in her name to Big Life Foundation. Tribute gifts are a unique way to honor your mom while protecting the wildlife and wild lands of Greater Amboseli, and all the matriarchs that live there. Flowers only last a week, but this is a gift that truly lasts.

When you make a Mother’s Day tribute donation of $50 or more, we can send a physical personalized card in the mail, or a digital one through e-mail. The Mother’s Day card features an elephant mother and calf on the front, and a lioness and her cub on the inside, both from Big Life’s area of operation.  

For printed cards to be sent in the mail, please make your donation no later than April 29^th to ensure delivery before Mother’s Day, May 8th. For digital cards, please make your donation by May 6^th.

For any questions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Ulysses. It was a big name to live up to, but this elephant had no problem doing so.

He was born in 1979 and named by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants long before there was any sign that he would grow into one of Kenya’s biggest tuskers.

A ‘big tusker’ or ‘super tusker’ is an elephant with tusks that weigh over 100 lbs each. Very few populations still carry the genes for such huge tusks, and the individuals that do grow them are extremely vulnerable to poaching for their ivory. At the height of the last elephant-poaching crisis, Ulysses’ tusks would have been worth a staggering $200,000 or more on the wholesale ivory market.

Thanks to protection from Big Life rangers and the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ulysses made it through the worst of the ivory-poaching days, only to encounter another threat: Human-Wildlife Conflict. On two different occasions, he was speared by farmers in retaliation for crop-raiding, before the construction of Big Life’s crop-protection fence.

On both occasions, in 2016 and 2018, he was successfully treated and since then has wandered Amboseli, delighting those lucky enough to see him and largely minding his own business.

Very sadly, Ulysses died at the end of March. At 43 years, it is not old age that killed him, since elephants can live well into their 60’s.  The exact cause of death could not be determined by KWS, but his death does appear to have been natural. While it may seem strange to describe it as such, the natural death of any animal (rather than at the hands of humans) should be considered a success.

His tusks were recovered and weighed in at a staggering 51 and 47 kg. Appearance is not everything and having big tusks does not make any one elephant more important than another but, as one of the biggest tuskers in Africa, Ulysses’ giant presence on the plains of Amboseli will certainly be missed.

Photo: Jeremy Goss