A meeting with a poacher is not a negotiation, nor a friendly discussion. It’s a fight, and we don’t want our rangers to come in second.
 
That’s why Big Life has just launched the Amboseli Conservation Academy, a training facility designed to prepare rangers for anything that might happen to them in the bush.
 
Dealing with poachers is only one part of a Big Life ranger’s job. There are also ivory traders to ambush, elephants to protect from farmers, warrior-led lion hunts to stop, medical emergencies, crime-scene evidence to collect, and poaching court cases to monitor. Doing all of this safely takes a lot of knowledge and an equal amount of skill.
 
Big Life’s goal is for every ranger to undertake the comprehensive ranger training that is offered by the Kenya Wildlife Service Manyani ranger training facility at least once. But training is an ongoing process, and the refresher courses taught at the Amboseli Conservation Academy will keep the rangers' skills fresh and relevant. There are already 30 rangers who are better off because of it: the inaugural group of graduates have just completed the first 3-week ranger refresher course.
 
We don’t plan on letting the dust settle between ranger training courses. We intend to turn this Academy into a hub for training on other critically important topics in the ecosystem, such as rangeland management, conservancy management and governance, and tourism development.
 
We’re very grateful to our partners at the Thin Green Line Foundation and for the generosity of Michael and Jane Agg for turning this idea into a reality. We also thank IFAW for construction of the instructors' housing, and For Rangers, USAID, and GEF for funding equipment. Equally important is the support of local communities, particularly the Amboseli Tsavo Game Scouts Association.
 
A ranger’s life is difficult, and it is dangerous. We have no way to know what challenges each of them will face in the future; we can only try to make sure that they are ready for anything.

The death of Sudan, the last male Northern white rhino, was a heartbreaking reminder of the fragility of many endangered species. Hunted to near-extinction, just two Northern white rhinos now remain: Najin, Sudan’s daughter, and Fatu, his granddaughter. The fate of the Northern white rhino was not determined by a conservation fail, or an unavoidable tragedy. The fate of the Northern white rhino was determined by people.

A few hours south from Sudan’s final resting place lives another small population of rhinos – seven Eastern black rhinos, one of the most endangered species on earth. The rhinos, living in the Chyulu Hills, are protected day and night by Big Life community rangers and Kenya Wildlife Service. Of the roughly 600 rhinos currently residing in Kenya, this small population represents one of the last wild populations in Kenya.

To help ensure the species’ survival, Big Life has been working hard to obtain Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) status in the Chyulu Hills. The Chyulu Hills are ideally suited for rhinos, and achieving IPZ status would enable us to qualify for inbound rhino translocations. A key component to securing IPZ status is ensuring the current population of rhinos continues to prosper. Big Life is excited to report that due to the steadfast work of our rangers, there were zero incidents of poaching in the rhino territory in 2017. Together with our partners, we aim to achieve IPZ status by mid-2018.

Big Life’s hope is that the fate of the Eastern black rhino will also be determined by people. But this time, by the dedicated people who are working to secure a future for this species in the wild.

To help us protect the Eastern black rhino and achieve IPZ status, please consider making a donation.

Photo : © Nick Brandt

Elephants are smart, but humans are smarter. No sooner is a law made than there is someone working out a way to break it.

This has been the case with ivory bans, which have often exempted trade in 'antiques' under pressure from lobby groups.

The trouble is, certificates of age and origin can be forged, and there are accounts that sellers even dye ivory to make it appear older. In short, loopholes being exploited.

Today we’ve heard the brilliant news that the UK has taken the big step of further tightening a previous ban (which allowed trade in worked ivory from before 1947), to now include almost ALL ivory. There are still some very small exemptions, but none that create a hole big enough for a criminal to crawl through. Let’s hope that other countries follow this lead!

Photo: Axel Fassio

Another day, another pop of the dart gun. Ulysses is only 39 years old, but has already heard it twice.

Our partners in conservation, the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, have followed him since birth in 1979. A happy journey until the first farmer’s spear hit home in 2016. The treatment went well, but the wound was badly infected and we weren’t sure that he would make it.

Thankfully he did, but we find ourselves in the same awful situation less than two years later. He was spotted by a guide from Great Plains Conservation, barely able to walk and clearly in extreme pain.

Ulysses was tranquilized for a second time by the The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust-funded Kenya Wildlife Service vet unit, and again the wound proved to be a bad one. A sharp object, most likely a spear delivered by an irate farmer, had penetrated all the way to the joint. The vet did what he could and the teams left Ulysses a little confused, but on his feet.

Since then Big Life rangers have been trying their best to keep an eye on him, a task complicated by the dramatic rainfall over the past three weeks. But the good news is that he is still alive, and that a ranger team has reported that he appears to be moving more normally.

Sadly, this situation is the new normal. Ulysses’ treatment follows that of Tolstoy, another one of Amboseli’s rare big bulls, only a few weeks prior. These special elephants are under threat, less from poaching and more from conflict with regular people: farmers just trying to make their own living.

A barrier around farms is the only option, and we are seeing remarkable success following the completion of a first phase of electric fencing. Phase 2 is underway, but we’re working against the clock here. It’s only with luck that previous spears have missed their fatal mark, and only a matter of time before that luck runs out.

Images top from left: 1 - Ulysses battling to walk (red arrow pointing to untreated wound); 2 – Vet treatment; 3 – Ulysses slowly waking up after reversal of the anesthetic. 
All images: Mark Adlington