More and more, Big Life’s story—and the story of the animals whose lives we strive to protect—comes down to the one same simple thing:

Space.

It is something you will hear about from us over and over again. Even more than about poachers and ivory.

Space. A safe haven for wild animals.

Somewhere they can live out their lives away from the most dangerous predator of all—humans.

For those of you who know the Greater Amboseli ecosystem, you are aware of just how tiny Amboseli National Park is. It’s only 100,000 acres. That’s about the size of Philadelphia. For animals who are constantly on the move in search of food and water, that’s too small—they need far more range than that to roam. In fact, it’s been calculated that approximately 80% of animals who call Amboseli home leave the protection of the park at certain times of the year.

Decades ago, this wasn’t a problem. There was enough food, enough unspoiled wild habitat around the park, for the animals to venture as far as they needed in complete safety.

However, those days are gone. Probably forever. As humans expand relentlessly into what was once wildlife habitat, they come into ever-more-frequent conflict with wildlife.

There are no winners of this conflict. Everyone loses.

Across the ecosystem, the mounting pressure is keenly felt: competition for grazing between wildlife and the ever-growing numbers of livestock, conversion of former wildlife habitat to farmland, and the inexorable spread of humans, part of the population explosion happening across Africa this century.

It sounds bad, but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe that there was a future in which wildlife and humans can share the space. It’s about protecting the right areas. Fortunately, there is one such place to the north of the park with the potential to be a long-term safe zone for wildlife.

Its name is Eselengei.

Encompassing over 200,000 acres, Eselengei is the northernmost tract of intact wilderness in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem. A last wild frontier. And with every year, its importance and the need to conserve it is growing.

Over the years, Big Life’s rangers have played a central role in controlling poaching and making the ecosystem a safer place. As a result, animals—especially elephants—are now venturing further from the park and deeper into Eselengei. They are also staying there for longer. This safe zone is not just important for elephants; Eselengei is also a stronghold of the ecosystem’s lion population, as well as home to a wide diversity of other species.

However, as one might expect, there is peril in paradise.

Eselengei is surrounded by communities that are not always friendly to wildlife. Poachers, targeting bushmeat and sometimes ivory, operate along its northern boundaries, frequently picking off animals in the areas outside of the existing conservancy that lies within Eselengei. Earlier this year, five elephants were speared to death in a series of horrific events.

But it is not too late.

Now is the time for expanded protection of Eselengei. Now is the time to make this entire area safe for animals, today and into the future, and work with partners to provide the local community with real long-term economic benefits from conservation.

What we do here, or fail to do, will determine how the ecosystem functions for years to come.

We have already taken our first steps. Earlier this year, we established a fully functioning mobile ranger unit in Eselengei with funding from USAID.

We now plan to add two permanent ranger outposts, fully equipped and manned by recruits from the Eselengei community, and supported by a Land Cruiser vehicle that will allow for rapid response to emergencies. These rangers will not just work to protect wildlife on Eselengei (often by providing support to the people who share this space), but will also respond when animals cross the invisible barrier into neighbouring ‘hostile’ territory.

Also, after previously supporting a scaled-down version of our Predator Compensation Fund on Eselengei, we plan to introduce the full version soon. The fund provides livestock owners with financial compensation for all verified losses of their animals to the ecosystem’s wild predators. This program has been immensely successful over the years, helping to increase the lion population throughout the ecosystem. Pragmatically speaking, it’s one of the highest impact investments when it comes to gaining community support for conservation.

But to be truly successful, we need to introduce all of the other elements that make up Big Life’s holistic approach—everything from educational scholarships for local children to fortification of community water sources and provision of a sufficient supply of fuel to pump enough water for both livestock and wildlife.

Eselengei is—for now—an incredibly important area for wildlife, but if not nurtured and protected, with the speed of change and development elsewhere, its future as a wilderness will be rapidly compromised. And as is unfortunately the way with ‘progress’, it is always an uphill battle, to put it mildly, to reverse the damage. We would prefer to fight the battle now, while the playing field is level, because for the animals who call this area home, there are no second chances.

It is our hope that you will see the urgency of today’s call for action and offer your support now, while there is still time. The fate of the ecosystem’s wildlife—whose lives depend on the lands of Eselengei—hangs in the balance.

Please help us to secure a safe haven for wildlife—a place for animals to live safe from human predation—while also supporting the local communities on Eselengei who will ultimately decide on the future of their land.

Your generous support will help to fund the following and more:

Thank you as ever for your loyal support.  Nick Brandt & Richard Bonham

You asked, and we listened. We’re excited to announce that you can now show your support of our shared mission to protect wildlife and wild lands in East Africa with Big Life branded gear!

If you’re shopping today for Cyber Monday, these items also make great gifts to share with loved ones this holiday season.

Sustainable, eco-friendly holiday gift options include: water bottles, totes, t-shirts, hoodies, ball caps, beanies, coffee mugs, stickers, and more.

Please visit: shop.biglife.org

4^th Biennial Maasai Olympics Final Scheduled December 15, 2018

Amboseli, Kenya -- African lion populations have declined by at least 43% in the last 20 years, with few signs of abating. Today, there are as few as 20,000 in the wild. In Maasai culture, it is custom for warriors to kill lions as a traditional rite of passage into manhood. But at the behest of the cultural “fathers,” or elders, in the Amboseli ecosystem, Big Life Foundation established the Maasai Olympics in 2012. A culture-shifting alternative was created: conservation education paired with organized sports competitions based on traditional warrior skills. Today, warriors compete for medals and prizes instead of killing lions.

Every two years, participating warrior villages select teams and compete in a series of regional one-on-one tournaments leading up to the final, action-packed event with athletic performances, spirited but sporting rivalry, and no dead lions. Athletes compete for recognition, express bravery, attract girlfriends, and identify leaders in six events: 200m, 800m, and 5,000m races, javelin for distance, rungu (wooden club) for accuracy, and the high jump, Maasai warrior-style from a standing position. As young women are often the motivators behind warriors wanting to hunt lions, and they are also potential conservation advocates, their inclusion is critical. Young women compete in two events: the 100m and 1,500m races.

The conservation impact has been measurable. 84% of surveyed Maasai warriors who participated in the 2016 Olympics said that the Maasai Olympics was a good or very good alternative to traditional lion hunting.

Following numerous conservation education meetings throughout the ecosystem, regional competitions for the 4^th Maasai Olympics competition began this past August and for three months, warriors tested each other, looking to see who would come out on top. The Final, where all four teams will come together to battle it out, has been scheduled for December 15, and the warriors are buzzing with anticipation. Event winners receive individual medals, prizes, and public recognition for their skills, but the winning team also takes home a trophy and prize breeding bull.

The Final will be overseen by the patron for the Maasai Olympics, gold medal Olympian, 800m world-record holder, and fellow Maasai, David Rudisha.

A very special thank you to our 2018 Maasai Olympics sponsors, including: National Geographic Society, Charles and Judy Tate, Dan and Pam Baty, Chester Zoo, Born Free Foundation, Zoo Basel, Disney Conservation Fund, Great Plains Conservation, Great Plains Foundation, Marleen Groen, and Safari Professionals of the Americas. The success of the Maasai Olympics is only possible because of your partnership.

Additional thanks and acknowledgment to Dereck and Beverly Joubert for their award-winning documentary film “Tribe vs. Pride” which features the Maasai Olympics. Thank you for helping spread awareness about the Maasai Olympics and its conservation impact.

For more information, photos, accommodation options, and driving directions, visit: maasaiolympics.com

Interested in attending and covering the Maasai Olympics?

Please rsvp to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register for a press pass, or to request photos of the Finals.

Big Life’s intelligence work continues to pay off, as just last week, we supported yet another ivory bust in Kenya.

One of our informers caught wind of a potential ivory sale and pretended to be a buyer in order to set up a deal. When the ivory and the suspects were all in one place, Kenya Wildlife Service officers made the arrest, removing 21 kg of illegal ivory from the black market.

Ironically, on that very same day, the Standing Committee (SC) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) shocked the world by exempting Kenya and Tanzania (along with a handful of other countries) from the National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) process—a process designed to strengthen controls over and help combat the illegal trade in ivory.

Applauded for “substantially achieving” their NIAPs and for “further measures taken to address illegal trade in ivory,” it was agreed that Kenya and Tanzania—both Category A Parties, meaning they are the “most affected by the illegal trade in ivory”—may now exit the reporting process altogether.

While both Kenya and Tanzania have made measurable progress, it is a stretch for CITES to suggest that they have “achieved their NIAPs.”

It is well known that Kenya, particularly Mombasa, remains a key exit point for illegal ivory that is headed to Asia. And although Kenya (whose elephant population is now relatively stable and increasing in some areas) set a commendable example to the world by burning its ivory stockpile in 2016, Tanzania (whose elephant population has suffered one of the most dramatic declines of any African range state) continues to sit on over 100 tons of ivory. Of this, no large-scale seizure has undergone any form of CITES-required DNA analysis in the last eight years.

Both countries do, of course, have long histories of corruption, although efforts are being made to address this. But the result has been weakened enforcement, insufficient conviction rates, lenient sentencing, and irregular reporting to CITES. All of which leaves us scratching our heads and wondering: What is CITES thinking??

Given the amount of illegal ivory that Big Life continues to confiscate moving through our area of operation—over a ton last year, and rapidly closing in on the same this year—we find it extremely alarming that CITES has made this decision, with very little reasonable justification, when there is clearly much more work to be done.

In the face of this setback, Big Life remains more committed than ever to our intelligence operations and to ending the trafficking of illegal ivory.

We thank you, as always, for your support, which makes our work possible.