Ranger training is a critical piece of Big Life’s conservation success. To achieve and maintain our wildlife protection goals, Big Life’s rangers (and rangers across the African continent) must be regularly trained to ensure they have the most up-to-date education and skills in wildlife protection, wildlife crime prosecution, first-aid, and bush tracking skills.

To that end, Big Life conducts a comprehensive training program through the Amboseli Conservation Academy (ACA), which we launched in 2018. The training program is an intensive 21-day course, in which 300 rangers participate annually. The key activities of this course include non-commissioned officer courses for our officers, first aid training to ensure each unit can handle hazardous duties, training on crime scene investigation techniques and prosecution follow-up to bolster prosecution success rates, and instruction on monitoring and reporting techniques. Specialized operational courses are also included to prepare rangers for rapid responses to varying situations, including dangerous poaching scenarios and crop protection from elephants.We are grateful to our partners at Part Time Rangers for directly supporting a recent ranger training course, which resulted in 31 rangers getting critical training.

Keeping our ranger skills current and fresh will ensure we maintain our success for wildlife and wild lands in East Africa.
Photos: Josh Clay