The process of collaring an elephant takes skill and extraordinary coordination, and goes something like this:
A suitable candidate is found by airplane and the pilot talks the ground teams to the elephant’s location. A vet darts the elephant from a helicopter, allowing him to get an accurate shot with a tranquilizer. Once the dart is in, the helicopter herds the elephant, trying to keep it in the open and accessible to the advancing ground teams.
Once the elephant is down, the ground teams race in. They first ensure that the elephant has fallen in a safe position, adjusting them if necessary. Then they securely fit the tracking collar. The aircraft meanwhile continues to wheel overhead, keeping an eye on the rest of the elephant’s herd (which can be understandably become upset and aggressive).
The drug reversal is then injected and everyone backs away, waiting to make sure that the elephant stands safely. Then it’s on to the next one! By the end of just 2 days this process had been successfully repeated 8 times.
Four of the elephants that were collared are known crop-raiders. The collars will help to monitor their movements, so that Big Life rangers can intervene before they get into farmlands.
The other four elephants are from the Chyulu Hills population, of which not much is known about their movements. The data from these collars will provide information on their habitat needs, so that those areas can be better protected.
We are extremely grateful to the Elephant Crisis Fund, who provided the funding for this exercise. And thanks to the faultless performance of all our partners involved, including Kenya Wildlife Service, Save the Elephants, Mara Elephant Project, and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
📽️: Jeremy Goss
