Being big is good for attracting mates. It can also get you killed.

Tim and Tolstoy had no say in the matter. They both inherited a genetic trait that has helped them to the top of the male elephant hierarchy in Amboseli. It has also put their lives in continual danger.

Thanks to Amboseli Trust for Elephants, we can track their genealogy back to a female elephant called Teresia, Tolstoy’s mother, and Tim’s grandmother. Females will have an average of seven offspring over a 35-40 year period, leading to complicated family trees. So although Tolstoy is technically Tim’s uncle, Tim is actually two years older and turns 50 this year. Growing up together, the two formed an early bond that is still strong as ever, and they are rarely separated.

Sadly, Tim and Tolstoy are some of the last of their kind. Their huge tusks, once common across Africa, are now so rare that they are living treasures. In Kenya, thankfully, trophy hunters can’t kill them, but poachers targeting those same trophies disregard the law. Elsewhere in Africa, poaching and trophy hunting have both selectively eliminated older and larger-tusked elephants like these from the gene pool over time.

This is a problem for the conservation of the species. The older bulls have rich life experience and, being very socially connected, are an important source of information for other elephants. They mentor the younger bulls and control any wayward or anti-social behaviors. And critically, big old bulls pass on the genes that will code for large tusks in future generations. As Tim and Tolstoy are now in their reproductive prime, they are arguably more important now than ever.

They need protection, so we provide it. Big Life’s rangers patrol daily to protect them from poachers. But these large animals also need space to live. With support from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Big Life partners with local communities to lease some of the areas that are particularly important to Tim, Tolstoy, and the broader Amboseli elephant population, including the Kimana Conservancies and Kimana Sanctuary.

Tim and Tolstoy are notorious crop-raiders, so we are also continuing to construct crop-protection fences to keep elephants out of agricultural areas where they are at risk of being speared by angry farmers. Tim and Tolstoy have already been speared at least four times between them and are running out of luck. We must finish the fences before a blade finds its deadly mark.

Of all the things that might kill these special elephants, the only one we’ll accept is old age. And with your help, we plan to continue doing everything within our power to ensure that this will be the case.

We’ve all had enough. Enough of the daily stories of environmental destruction at the hands of faceless corporate companies, driven by greed and facilitated by corruption.

So today for World Gin Day, here is a positive story about a company that is trying to change the status quo. A story of a young gin company, and its founders, who set out with the very specific goal of combining their passions for creating high-quality gin and protecting elephants.

Elephant Gin was established in 2014, and from the outset committed to donating 15% of profits to elephant conservation in Africa. In this short time, they have achieved something truly remarkable, and have donated more than €550,000 to three conservation NGOs, of which Big Life is very proud to be one.

Their contribution to Big Life now supports the salaries, rations and basic equipment for at least 45 community rangers on an ongoing basis, all of whom are working daily to protect elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem.

While the actual conservation work often takes place on the ‘frontlines’, supporting this work is just as important as actually doing it. Thank you, Elephant Gin, for your huge contribution towards a better world. We hope other businesses follow your lead!

For anyone who would like to purchase Elephant Gin, it is available in Europe, the US, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and will be available in Kenya from mid-June. Please check their website for more.

A spear in a lion is never good news. The initial reports were that the blade had lodged in her skull, but the lioness had disappeared.

The day had started normally enough, with the Maasai warrior herding his cows out into the bush in search of pasture. What he didn’t know was that he was on a collision course with an age-old adversary.

The lioness attacked unexpectedly in broad daylight. Desperate to save the life of one of his valuable cows, the herder reacted in the only way he knew how. He aimed his spear at the lioness, and threw. It hit her in the face and she ran.

In the past, all nearby warriors would have assembled and gone after the lions to make sure that the threat had been eliminated. But instead, in a remarkable demonstration of the success of local lion conservation efforts, the livestock owner called for help: not from the warriors, but from a group of conservation partners.

Big Life rangers, Lion Guardians, and Olgulului rangers all reacted swiftly and set off in search of the injured lioness. Eventually, the tracks led them to the lioness, and with relief, the tracking team could see that the impact had not been fatal. Her nose was cut and bleeding from where the spear had hit her, but this was one lucky lion.

The Lion Guardians identified her as Nawashie, a five and a half-year old lioness from a small pride of five lions. Their team tracked her the following day, confirming that she would recover from the wound on her own.

This situation demonstrates the complexity of trying to achieve some sort of harmony between man and animal. This herder was simply defending his livestock, and no-one can fault his reaction. Had the cow been killed by the lioness, Big Life would have compensated the owner a portion of its value, provided that no lions were killed in follow-up hunting attempts.

Despite the number of livestock killed by predators on a daily basis across the ecosystem, this compensation program in concert with the efforts of our lion-conservation partners has helped create an environment where spears are thrown at lions almost exclusively in self-defense. At a time when the world needs some good news about lion conservation, this is certainly a glimmer of hope.

Image credit: Philip Briggs (Lion Guardians)

Ironically, sometimes the most beautiful, pristine, and remote natural places on our planet often harbor the very worst human beings. Dark, tangled forests provide cover and safe haven for bandits, poachers, and thieves. So it was with the Chyulu Hills.

This spectacular and biologically diverse volcanic mountain range can be found in the east of Big Life’s operating area, and amongst other things is home to a small remnant population of highly endangered Eastern black rhino that was tucked away for years, thought to be extinct. Such is the cover provided by the thick lava forests that blanket the foothills, and towering cloud forests that crown the range.

The Chyulu Hills used to be a dangerous place. A nest of charcoal burning and illegal logging operations, and a refuge from which cattle rustlers and common thieves launched their raids. Snares lined many kilometers traversing the slopes, and only the very luckiest animals made it through alive.

Slowly, and over the course of many years, we have worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service to turn the tide. One by one, our rangers pulled out snares, destroyed charcoal kilns, and arrested illegal loggers. Today, it is once again a safe haven for wild animal species, and providing clean air and water for the ecosystem.

As a testament to its importance, the Chyulu Hills is now the site of a REDD+ carbon credit project, being implemented through a partnership between local communities, government, and NGOs, one that is further enhancing the benefits of environmental conservation. So far, sales of these carbon credits through our partners at Conservation International have contributed $15,000 towards protection of the area.

Today is World Environment Day, and a time to both take heart from the environmental conservation success stories such as that of the Chyulus Hills, but also to acknowledge the grave ongoing threats to our planet. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day focus is air pollution, a hazard to both human health and our natural environments. There’s much work to do be done, but the Chyulu Hills is today a vital carbon sink and water resource for Kenya that simultaneously cleans the air.

There are steps that we can all take to #beatairpollution - please take a look at the World Environment Day website to better understand these. As for Big Life, we will continue to work daily, with all of our partners, to protect the natural habitats of the Amboseli ecosystem.