The killing of three elephants by trophy hunters in Tanzania in the last 6 months has made global news.

Trophy hunting of elephants is legal in Tanzania, but this is different. These elephants have been hunted just across the international border, in the Tanzanian part of the Greater Amboseli Ecosystem.

One of these elephants has been identified by our partners at Amboseli Trust for Elephants; he was an Amboseli Supertusker named Gilgil, aged 35 and just entering his prime breeding years.

Very few bulls make it to this age; only 3.8% of all males in the Amboseli population are above 35 and this is one of the best protected elephant populations in the world. To shoot them at this time, particularly free-roaming elephants that are extremely habituated to humans, is certainly not a ‘conservation strategy’ as many like to call it.

We do disagree with one piece of this news coverage - this is not Kenya vs Tanzania. There has been global outrage against these killings, including from within the hunting industry itself.

We appreciate the Kenyan leaders who are standing up, including the governor of Kajiado County, and our partners at ElephantVoices, WildlifeDirect, and Amboseli Trust for Elephants, among others.

There are permits available to hunt further elephants from this cross-border Amboseli population, and we join the rest of the world in continuing to call on Tanzania and Kenya to formalize the historic moratorium of hunting of bulls from this unique population.

Click to read or watch the story, which includes a statement from Big Life’s Richard Bonham.