Dear Reader,
The first time I saw Craig, he took my breath away. He’s an awe-inspiring, living monument to the wild: a rare and magnificent bull elephant towering above the savannah, moving with power and grace.
We share a name, but he’s like something from the distant past: a giant with a subsonic rumble and ground-sweeping tusks.
He’s a tusker—each tusk weighs over 100 pounds. Only about 25 tuskers remain in East Africa. Ten of them call Big Life’s area of operation home.
I’m writing because Craig and the rest of Amboseli’s elephants are in danger. They need your help.
Your donation will protect elephants across Greater Amboseli for generations to come. Craig and his family—and all species that call the ecosystem home—rely on Big Life’s 390+ rangers to keep them safe.
It costs just $58 per ranger per day to fund our operations. That covers everything—from patrols and equipment to habitat protection and community outreach. We rely on caring friends like YOU to protect Craig and the other elephants.
Craig has survived more than 50 years, narrowly escaping ivory poachers and enduring droughts that killed others like him.
He was born to open savannahs. But Craig now shares his home with nearly 200,000 people.
Like all elephants, Craig migrates vast distances of wilderness. His paths today also cut through community lands and farms.
That’s where you come in: your donation will help keep Craig safe as he moves through the landscape...
You can help keep Amboseli’s elephants safe and roaming freely. If you’re ready to give, please consider making an online donation today using our secure website.
As I mentioned, it costs $58 per ranger a day to protect wildlife. That’s the complete cost: a living wage for the ranger, all the food and equipment they need, and all other program support costs.
I think you’ll agree—that’s quite a bargain for what these rangers do: stopping poachers and keeping elephants like Craig out of farms and away from angry farmers.
Because of you, we haven’t lost a single elephant to ivory poachers in our operating area since 2018...
But elephants like Craig are still at risk. If we don’t stay vigilant, poachers will be back with weapons to kill.
Please think about what you can give. Any amount makes a big difference to save some of Earth’s last great tuskers. And if now isn’t the right time for you to give, I understand.
Ivory prices are going up. The ivory our rangers confiscate comes from elephants killed years ago. But those old stashes are running out—and as prices rise, so does the pressure to kill again.
Without YOU, Amboseli’s elephants, especially tuskers like Craig, will once again be in the poachers’ crosshairs.
Craig’s massive tusks aren’t the only thing putting him at risk. His habitat also faces threats.
Craig’s stomping grounds include the Kimana Corridor (below), a vital link between Amboseli National Park, Kimana Sanctuary, and beyond.
The corridor runs beside farms growing tempting crops—tomatoes, pumpkins, and corn.
Thanks to you, there’s now a solar-powered fence protecting this narrow stretch of wilderness—just 46 meters wide at its narrowest. It keeps animals safely away from crops and inside secured wilderness areas.
More than 85,000 animals have actively used the Kimana Corridor since we built it. From the tallest giraffes and elephants to the tiniest aardvarks and warthogs. We have rangers stationed throughout the Kimana Corridor and Sanctuary, protecting these animals day in and day out.
You can help protect Craig and his habitat with your donation today. Your support employs rangers, keeps land wild, maintains the fence—and so much more.
We’ve protected several key wilderness areas, but Greater Amboseli still faces threats from rapid development. The danger of Craig losing his home is just as real as the threat of poachers.
Land is being divided and sold, and outside interests are rushing to claim it.
The local Maasai community has asked us to help them manage this crisis. It can’t happen without friends like you. Unless you help secure Craig’s corridors, tuskers like him will be lost...Forever.
Please—if you can, now is the time to give.
On behalf of Craig the Elephant,
Craig Millar
COO, Big Life Kenya
