One of the most precious commodities in any walk of life is trust.

As the saying goes, it takes decades to build and seconds to destroy.

The Greater Amboseli ecosystem is vast. Despite the fact we coordinate almost 400 rangers, 15 vehicles, and 2 aircraft, it’s impossible to cover every blade of grass every day. However, we have something just as valuable as our vehicles, planes, and uniforms: trust.

We have earned this after decades of presence here in this ecosystem, from providing employment for hundreds of local people to helping thousands more. We do what we say we will, and that means something.

This quality helped us recently when our rangers were alerted to two separate poaching incidents on the same day. Both incidents shared grisly similarities: two giraffes had become entangled in snares set by poachers. Once immobilized, they were butchered.

Yet they also shared the fact that both poachers were seen by community members who quickly called Big Life, and in both cases our rangers arrived at the scene quickly to arrest the poachers, literally red-handed.

The photo of one of the crime scenes is hard to look at, but we believe it is important to share it. Because sadly, across much of Kenya, wildlife is still being targeted. We see an uptick in bushmeat pushing during dry seasons such as this, as resources become scarce. Giraffes are targeted due to their immense size. 

Keeping wildlife safe from poaching, and other threats to habitat, is an ongoing battle. These poachers will be held accountable for their crimes.

We have earned the trust of the people we work with, but now we need to help show the value of wildlife. Please consider donating to Big Life today to help keep Amboseli’s wildlife safe.

Giraffe 📸: Jeremy Goss