This was an attack on all sides, by multiple attackers. There were spear wounds on the rump, back legs, and two through the trunk. A total of five holes that shouldn’t be there.

We know this elephant. His name is Lobolo, and until recently, he hadn’t been seen for a number of months. Wherever it is that he went, he clearly found trouble, and most likely the wounds were a result of conflict with humans. It could have been from continued fall-out following a spate of elephant hunting after two people were killed early last month by elephants to the north and outside of our core area of operation.

Thankfully Lobolo made it back to safety for help, which was quick to come. He was first spotted at a waterhole by guides from ol Donyo Lodge. Big Life rangers staked out the waterhole, knowing that Lobolo would soon return. When he did, late one afternoon, a well-rehearsed response kicked into action.

Not two days since our previous call for a separate incident to the Sheldrick-Wildlife-Trust-supported Kenya Wildlife Service sky-vet, and the helicopter was back on the scene. The pilot skillfully corralled Lobolo, keeping him in the open for a clear shot from the vet and his dart gun. The wounds were all successfully treated and packed with blue medicinal clay, and a groggy Lobolo woke up and ambled slowly off into the bush.

The Greater Amboseli ecosystem is a huge place, and while we try, we cannot keep an eye on all 2,000+ elephants moving through all of the time. Big Life rangers respond to all reported conflicts and try to prevent any injuries to both humans and elephants. But this is not always possible, and we’re thankful for the work that the rangers do, and the partners we are able to call on to help the injured.

Cockroaches in the cupboard, mosquitos landing on your face.  Even in the most mundane way, everyone has experienced animals invading our personal spaces. 

In Africa it can be on a dramatically larger scale. Lions and other predators killing your livestock. Elephants trampling your crops and killing or injuring a family member. The automatic response by many is predictable: kill the problem animal.

Listening to our local communities, Big Life has always believed that one of the most effective ways of intervening is to relieve some of the economic costs borne by those who live alongside wild animals.

One of our early innovations in this field was the creation of Big Life’s Predator Compensation Fund (PCF), a compensation program designed to reimburse livestock owners for a portion of their losses to predators (with penalties for poor livestock husbandry), provided that no predators are killed in retaliation.

The result, fifteen years later, is arguably one of the world’s most successful predator protection programs. Big Life’s PCF has gone from an experiment to one of the core driving forces behind the spectacular recovery of the lion population in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem, along with the work of our local lion conservation partners.

On a larger scale, increasing conflict between humans and wildlife has become one of the biggest threats to conservation in Kenya, and the government has taken note. One outcome is the recent formation of a high-level Taskforce on Human-Wildlife Conflict Compensation Schemes, and we are incredibly proud to have Daniel Ole Sambu (pictured here), Big Life’s predator protection program coordinator, as one of the few non-governmental representatives invited to participate.

This task force will look at the opportunities for compensation programs to contribute to human-wildlife coexistence across Kenya, as well as a broad range of other potential conflict mitigation options.

Running a successful compensation program can be difficult, as there is huge potential for fraud and a high risk that the program won’t have the intended impact. So we’re incredibly honored that the Kenyan government has taken note of our success and that someone as experienced as Daniel will have the opportunity to help design future national solutions.

There is a lot that happens in the shadows outside of Big Life’s core operating area. Some of it goes unseen, but it’s difficult to hide a dead giraffe.

As the poachers cut meat off of the unfortunate giraffe they had snared, someone was watching. This information made its way out of the bush and reached Big Life through our intelligence network. The informer even knew which route the poachers would use to escape.

Although it was not in our core area of operation, one of Big Life’s mobile units set off to the scene with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). It was far enough away that the rangers were unlikely to get there before the poachers left, so the unit decided to set up an ambush along the suspected escape route.

Late at night, the beams of three motorbike headlights cut the darkness. By the time the riders saw the roadblock, it was too late to turn, and they rode straight into the ambush. Each bike was loaded with sacks of giraffe meat, nearly 300 kg estimated in total.

Two of the men pled guilty and were given the maximum sentence under the Kenya Wildlife Act: a $2,000 fine or two years in prison. The third pled not guilty, and his trial is ongoing.

Not long after this incident, and closer to home, there was a report of another snared giraffe. But this time, the animal was still alive, having managed to break free of the tree that the snare was attached to. The wire was tangled around the animal’s back legs and each step was pulling the noose around its neck tighter and tighter.

The Big Life ranger team had to find the giraffe quickly in order to save its life. This they were able to do, and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust-supported KWS vet unit was called in, successfully removing the snare and treating the giraffe’s wounds.

Each animal has a different price on its head. It’s a straightforward equation in the case of those hunted for the bushmeat trade: price per kilogram multiplied by number of kilograms. This calculation puts the giraffe at the top of the list, square in a poacher’s sights. A full-grown giraffe might weigh in excess of 1,000 kg and provide one of the highest returns that a poacher could hope for.

Poaching is one of the reasons that the number of giraffes in Africa has dropped dramatically, by an estimated 40% in the last 30 years. Yet despite this threat, the work that Big Life and our partners are doing to protect this species in the Amboseli-Kilimanjaro ecosystem is proving successful. In 2013, an aerial survey of the ecosystem counted 4,283 giraffes. Just 5 years later, that number has risen by 24% to 5,312 giraffes in the ecosystem.

Today being World Giraffe Day, we believe that those numbers are reason to celebrate.

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.