Something changed in the Amboseli ecosystem yesterday. Almost imperceptible, leaving naught but a trail of dust. You won’t have felt the impact, but poachers soon will.

Our new rapid response vehicle has arrived - a Toyota Land Cruiser, specially fitted for long periods in the bush without resupply. The elite team of rangers ready to man it have undergone an intense period of further training, and are oozing pride.

Together with our local partners, we are having an impact on poaching levels in the core of our operating area, but on the edges we are losing animals, and the killers are getting away.

Our successful operations of the past month have demonstrated the influence that we already have in these peripheral areas, but our intelligence network continues to highlight the scale of the ongoing killing. This new mobile unit will be able to quickly respond to threats across the ecosystem, and there will be no more frustrated speculating.

With this vehicle and team now heading into the field, Big Life will be patrolling these peripheral areas: an additional 650,000 acres of wilderness where before there was no protection at all.

From our experiences over the last three years, it is amazing how much the mere presence of the previous mobile teams have acted as a deterrent to poaching. For many poachers, there is just too much risk of arrest.

Big Life has come a long way since the first kind donation 12 years ago of a vehicle to Richard Bonham by Amara Conservation.

And all of this has only been possible with the generous donations of our donors. Because of the money you donated for the Rapid Response Unit a few months, we are now able to act. You are as much a part of this as we are. We hope that all those who care will continue to support our efforts at www.biglife.org

- Jeremy Goss, Big Life Kenya