Paolo, one of Amboseli’s most impressive elephants, died last weekend.

These announcements are always bittersweet. ‘Super-tuskers’ like Paolo comprise just 0.02% of their entire species, so his loss feels significant. The good news is that Paolo died of natural causes, and not at the hands of humans. For an elephant with such enormous tusks, that’s a major accomplishment. But at just 46 years old, we’d hoped to have several more years with him.

Elephants have long lifespans. It will be 2070 before today’s children might see Paolo’s offspring reach their full potential. But that future may never happen if we do not act today in 2025. Right now, Amboseli, its elephants, and its wildlife, are at a crossroads. The threat against them isn’t poaching, but the sale and division of their habitat.

This crisis presents a once in a generation opportunity to safeguard Amboseli’s future. Big Life is working hard with local communities and organizations to achieve this, and Paolo inspired a lot of that initial work.

We first introduced you to Paolo last year, a critical part of his habitat called Nairrabala was under threat of development. Thanks to you, our supporters, we not only secured conservation leases for 38,000 acres there, but we also secured the neighboring 19,000-acre Marite Conservancy. These conservancies form the crucial link between Amboseli National Park and Eselengei to the north.

Paolo hails from one of the largest elephant families in Amboseli, so it is perhaps fitting that his legacy will be in helping birth these conservancies whose vast open areas will be home to many elephant families long into the future.⁠

There can and will be more like Paolo, but only if we continue to protect the rest of his kind and the open spaces they need to thrive.

📸: Joshua Clay