If Amboseli National Park is the heart of the Amboseli ecosystem, then Kimana Sanctuary is one of its lungs. Its swamps, streams and plentiful grass provide perennial relief for all of Amboseli’s wildlife. But in the last decade, the veins and arteries connecting these critical organs of Amboseli have become clogged.
Today, a strip of human development along the Emali-Loitokitok Highway has cut off all but one small connection between the two. At just 46 meters wide at its narrowest point, the Kimana Corridor is now the only lifeline between Amboseli and Kimana Sanctuary.
Everything from elephants to aardvarks squeeze through a narrow funnel that runs 800 meters through farms and human settlement before reaching the final hurdle: a busy tarmac road used by thousands of vehicles every day.
Big Life has secured this narrowest, most vulnerable part of the corridor with conservation easements, protecting the area for at least the next 50 years. We’ve also installed speed bumps to prevent collisions between wildlife and vehicles.
This last-ditch effort to save the connection between Amboseli National Park and Kimana Sanctuary has been an extraordinary success. The animals shown in this video are just some of the species caught by our camera traps recently using the crossing.
Animals need to move, and we are here to help them on their journeys. There is space for both people and wildlife in Amboseli, but it takes hard work, clever solutions, the participation of local communities, and the support of all of you who make this possible.
📹: Joshua Clay
