The minibus was traveling through the middle of nowhere, the surrounding wilderness just visible in the predawn light, when someone shouted for an unscheduled stop.  The other passengers turned to stare. The man appeared regular enough, just another traveler on his way to a nearby town. But this was no ordinary man: this was a Big Life ranger.

While making a personal trip during his time on leave, he saw something from the minibus that gave him cause for alarm. A giraffe sprinting through the bush near the road, with four men close on its heels.

The driver agreed to stop in return for an extra payment, and the ranger jumped out, calling the Big Life operations room as he went. Our radio operators quickly identified the closest vehicle unit, which happened to be Big Life’s USAID-funded mobile unit on Eselengei.

The ranger waited for the backup unit to arrive, and then they all moved quickly into the bush and onto the giraffe’s tracks. The rangers followed quickly but quietly, eventually stumbling onto a grisly scene. The poachers had chased the giraffe straight into a fence in order to trip it so that they could kill it more easily.

While it was too late to save the giraffe, it wasn’t too late to catch the poacher. The poacher still on scene attempted to run, but he was quickly caught. Rangers got the names of three accomplices who had already bolted, but without hard evidence of their involvement, they will be hard to prosecute. 

The one arrested poacher is now in jail and awaiting trial. But more importantly it’s another lesson to would-be poachers out there: Big Life has eyes and ears everywhere and our rangers are never fully off duty.  Poaching is still a very risky business.

If you haven’t yet, please support our work so our rangers can continue to catch poachers and keep wildlife safe. All donations made in December will be matched up to $250,000, doubling your impact.

 Photo: Jeremy Goss 

In the grass, the tawny bodies are motionless, as if there is no sign of life.

But the herder knows better. Keeping his livestock at a safe distance, he watches, and eventually there is the swish of a black-tipped tail. The seven lions are lying in the shade, calm and at ease. It’s a pride of two adults, four juveniles and a cub. A growing family. 

The following morning, the herder returns to the same area. This time he can smell carrion; the lions must have fed overnight. He eventually spots them, again lying motionless in the shade. 

Curious to see what they have fed on, he approaches closer, and closer still. The lions don’t move. Something is wrong. 

All seven are dead.

They have fed on a goat carcass laced with poison, assumedly in retaliation for killing livestock. It’s a huge loss to a vulnerable population of lions.

On a different day and in a different place, an elephant is found dead with a spear wound in his back. His tusks are gone; he’s been poached. In this case, the poachers get away, and the ivory is not recovered.

In yet another corner of the ecosystem, a land buyer from ‘out of town’ has bought a 40-acre piece of wilderness. He builds a fence to keep out the Maasai and their livestock, but no-one checks if any animals are trapped inside before it is completed. Or worse, no-one cares. The fence builders drive off, and a family of nine giraffes is trapped inside the fence, with no source of water. By the time rangers are notified, seven have died of dehydration, and two can barely stand. 

Aside from all being horrendous incidents that took place in the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem in the last year, these events have one thing in common: 

They happened in places outside Big Life’s core area of operation. 

We wish we could expand our circle of protection, and in an ideal world of limitless resources, we would. But we believe it is better to do the job well within our core 1.6 million acres than to be stretched too thin. 

This is not to say that bad things don’t happen where we work, but because of our presence (and the support of partners), these incidents are very rare in our area of operation. For example: 

In the last 4 years, no lions have died from poisoning in areas covered by our Predator Compensation Fund, while 21 lions have been poisoned in neighboring areas with no compensation. 

The last time an elephant was poached in Big Life’s area of operation was March 2018, also killed by a spear. But we arrested the poachers two days later and recovered the ivory. 

We have land lease agreements with hundreds of landowners, currently keeping 26,000 acres of wild land free from fencing, and thereby keeping important wildlife corridors open and grazing lands intact. 

In the Amboseli ecosystem, because of Big Life, animals are protected. The biggest danger they face now is to their home.  

Land subdivision is breaking large community-owned lands into thousands of privately-owned parcels. This shattering of the ecosystem is the greatest long-term threat to this incredible place. 

We already have the solution – conservation land leases to protect the most important wildlife corridors and grazing areas. Communities are eager to participate, and we’re very relieved that in the near-term, people realize the importance of funding leases. 

If we can get ongoing funding to lease the most important areas, then we are well on our way—for now—to keeping this ecosystem alive. 

But ironically, at a time when there is much to celebrate, we are facing an equally serious problem: funding for all of our other critical programs. 

The programs that prevent lion prides from being poisoned, elephants from being poached, and fences from choking the landscape. The programs that put children through school, provide healthcare in remote areas, and keep the peace between farmers and elephants. 

For 10 consecutive years our programs and impact have grown, and with them, our budgets. In synchronicity, amazingly, so has all of your support. Each year for the last ten years, more funds were raised than the last. 

But we’re now in a position that we’ve never been in before: fundraising is down so far this year that for the first time, we are in severe danger of being stretched too thin in our core area. 

With just six weeks to go in the year, donations are down by more than 45%. 

This reality is heartbreaking, as our budget is not just a number. It is not just a goal to achieve. 

Our budget represents each of our rangers and the salaries that keep them in the field stopping poachers and wildlife traffickers. It represents the fuel for the vehicles and planes that are critical to patrolling thousands of miles across vast terrain. It represents the legal costs of fighting to ensure wild land doesn’t disappear forever. It represents scholarships for a child who lost a family member to human-wildlife conflict. 

Our budget represents the price we need to pay to ensure the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem survives now and far into the future. 

We need your help. Amboseli needs your help.

Please donate to keep Big Life doing what we do, where we do it. Because what we do keeps animals, and the ecosystem they inhabit, alive.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT FOR WILDLIFE
Any donation will be matched before the end of the year up to $250,000. 
This means that your donation will stretch even further across the ecosystem, and have double the impact for wildlife and wild lands. 

DONATE NOW

What if wildlife and people could flourish in the same place, forever?

This is exactly what Big Life Foundation is dedicated to achieving in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem, and it’s only possible with the involvement of the local community.

The heart of our work is our community ranger program. Big Life’s 323 trained rangers work day and night to protect all wildlife including over 2,000 migrating elephants, 200+ lions, 8 critically endangered Eastern black rhinos, and the space they need to survive.

But to ensure this work has staying power for years to come, Big Life must also support local communities. So while you might be most familiar with Big Life’s rangers arresting poachers or removing snares, behind the scenes, Big Life rangers do so much more.

They are driving pregnant women to the hospital in the middle of the night. They are locating lost children gone astray in the African bush. They are utilizing the tracker dogs to solve community crimes. They are putting out forest fires. They are distributing food to communities in need.

They are more than rangers. They are ambulance drivers, search and rescue, firefighters, emergency support, crop protectors. They are fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters.   

They strengthen the community support for wildlife, because the Greater Amboseli is their home, and the local community members are their families.

Today on #GivingTuesday, to celebrate Big Life’s rangers, and all the roles they play to protect wildlife and support communities, Temple St. Clair – Big Life Advisory Board member and longtime Big Life donor – will match any new donations up to $20,000.

Fundraising is down this year for Big Life, and we are struggling to find the means to keep core ranger operations funded. We know this year has been another difficult one for all, but if you can, please consider donating to Big Life. It is a great day to donate, as your gift will have double the impact.

Thank you, as always, for your confidence in our work. 

Double Your Impact - DONATE Today

It was an affair that this year’s graduates will always remember. Accompanied by a rousing brass band, their impeccable uniforms and faultless marching was an impressive spectacle on a searing Tsavo morning. The occasion? The graduation of Big Life’s newest community rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service’s Manyani Law Enforcement Academy.

Two Big Life rangers were awarded trophies for Best in Academics and Best in Drill and Turnout, and each of the guest speakers had stirring words for the graduates.

Big Life’s Chief Operating Officer Craig Millar was full of praise for the graduates and the Academy, saying that this was the best ranger training program in Kenya as well as one of the toughest, adding that Big Life will continue to send its rangers here every year.

Head of Wildlife Conservation at Ol Pejeta, Samuel Mutisya, reminded everyone that innovation will be the key to solving the challenges facing Kenya’s wildlife in the future. He explained that human wildlife conflict and climate change will be the two defining issues for conservation in the decades ahead. Novel approaches will be crucial to success.

Nancy Kabete, Deputy Director of Security for the Kenya Wildlife Service, also spoke and emphasized the importance of collaboration between conservation organizations. She said that without community rangers, the Kenya Wildlife Service is not able to do the job the government has entrusted it to do. This is because only 8% of Kenya’s landmass is protected by National Parks with the rest of Kenya’s wildlife existing in a combination of rangelands, community ranches, and conservancies. The work of community rangers is therefore essential for the preservation of wildlife, something she said was a central feature of Kenya’s heritage.

Big Life is proud to have sponsored these latest ambassadors for wildlife conservation in Kenya. It is thanks to the generous support of Big Life’s donors that these men and women can be trained to such a high standard and keep on protecting Kenya’s wildlife. We are grateful to USAID East Africa for sponsoring this training via the US Department of the Interior.

Photo: Josh Clay