The elephant named Tolstoy is a living natural wonder, carrying some of the largest tusks on the planet. So when Big Life’s rangers don’t see him for a while, they go looking.

They searched beyond their normal patrol areas and eventually found him resting under a tree. All appeared fine, until he took a step… something was badly wrong. Tolstoy could barely walk. Upon getting closer, the rangers could see the problem: a puncture wound in the joint on his front right leg.

 A wound like this was no accident. Tolstoy frequently plays a high-stakes game called crop-raiding. When he wins, he comes away with a bellyful of highly nutritious crops. But when he loses, he gets speared.

Tolstoy doesn’t know it, but his crop raids can cost a farmer their entire season’s income in one night, and these farmers (justifiably) care little that Tolstoy is one of Africa’s dwindling number of ‘super tuskers’. It’s not the first time this has happened: in 2018 he was treated for three spear wounds, also a result of crop-raiding.

The Kenya Wildlife Service vet unit, funded by our partners at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, was quick to respond, but the decision to treat him was not made immediately. Darting an animal of this size, particularly with a wound in a sensitive joint, is extremely risky because the elephant may not be able to stand after treatment. The decision was made to wait 24 hours and see if his condition improved.

Big Life’s rangers stayed by his side, spending the entire night out with him, but the wound showed no signs of improvement. The decision was made to dart him, and it was done quickly and professionally.  His wound was thoroughly cleaned and treated, and Tolstoy was given antibiotics and painkillers before a jab to wake him up.

With great effort, he finally stood and stared back at the treatment team, before retreating into the shade. For now, his prognosis looks good, but he’s not out of the woods just yet as he continues to heal. Big Life rangers will continue to monitor him while he recovers. And they will continue to spend their nights out in the farms, keeping elephants safe and helping farmers to protect their crops, in order to prevent this from happening again.

Photos: Jeremy Goss

Thanks to our partner, Saving The Wild, Big Life has been able to implement a beekeeping and honey production enterprise in the ALOCA Kimana Conservancies. The project aim is to provide another nature-based benefit to the landowners in the form of a scholarship fund for their daughters from the profits from the honey sales, and it offers an alternative livelihood model that is low-impact and nature-based.

Currently there are 200 hives, over half of which are occupied with bees. And after a tough and prolonged dry season at the end of 2021, we are finally approaching our first harvest from a selection of the strongest hives in the coming weeks.

Launching any new program is always challenging, but it’s especially challenging when your project involves a particularly tasty treat in an ecosystem full of smart and curious animals.

Late last year, a very determined honey badger was able to burrow under fencing through very rocky and hard ground and gained entry to one of Big Life’s new apiaries, where it had a feast. In total, that honey badger knocked 14 hives from their stands and consumed all the honey they contained.

Once the breach was discovered, we had to mobilize very quickly to come up with a solution and protect the remaining hives, because we knew that honey badger would keep coming back.  Until supplies could be purchased, heavy rocks were placed in the hole it had dug, and torches were set up overnight to deter it’s return. Ranger teams also assisted with patrols throughout the night to check on the apiary.

The bee team then worked to build a 2-foot-deep cement and wire mesh re-enforced foundation around all the apiaries. As they worked on the first one, another honey badger attack happened at a second, and four additional hives were lost. Thankfully, we were able to respond faster this time and recapture the colonies, which had moved to nearby trees.

Thanks to the hard work of the beekeepers, workshop and ranger teams, all apiaries have now been secured with a cement foundation. The honey badger returned and tried to dig through but was unsuccessful, so for now we have outmaneuvered it. One can’t help but admire the tenacity of badgers!

A few weeks ago, I was worried that I’d be writing to you today with bad news. As we entered the 4^th quarter, our fundraising was down, leaving us with a budget gap that threatened to force us to cut back on programs. So it is with immense gratitude and unbelievable relief that I write to you with GOOD news. Because of our incredible supporters and partners around the world, we exceeded our goal for December and are starting off 2022 on solid footing. For now, our programs are thriving, and we are entering the new year optimistic that we will rise to the challenges before us, of which there are many.

All of our programs are intertwined and essential to conservation success in Amboseli, whether it’s protecting wildlife, securing habitat, or supporting the local Maasai community. Just as we ended the year on a high note financially, so too did our programs!

I was amazed to see that our rangers have finally surpassed 4 million kilometers of patrols. When we started keeping track of ranger movements in the early days of Big Life operations, I never dreamed we’d journey so far. Those patrols aren’t casual strolls either. Rangers confiscated ivory and other animal parts, bushmeat, and sandalwood. They destroyed snares, arrested poachers, and rescued injured wildlife. They tracked rhinos, prevented elephants from raiding crops, repaired fencing, put out wildfires, and conducted search and rescue operations. Our community rangers are the heart and soul of Big Life, and our conservation successes are all thanks to them.

Another number that amazed me in our 4^th quarter: more than 400 long-term student scholarships were awarded, up from 300 at the end of 2020. After two years of a pandemic impacting families in myriad ways, keeping local children in school has become more important than ever, and I’m especially proud that more than half our scholarships are going to girls, who have come under an increased risk of premature marriages and underage pregnancies during COVID-19. 

The hills around my home are lush with the recent rains, providing plenty of grass and water for wildlife and spoiling us with stunning vistas of a snow-topped Kilimanjaro beyond.

I wish you all an equally wonderful start to your New Year and know that together, 2022 will be our best yet. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

Richard Bonham
Executive Chairman, Big Life Foundation Kenya

SEE THE FULL 4TH QUARTERLY REPORT

Think of them as international salesmen of the worst kind. The four men had been crisscrossing the boundary between Kenya and Tanzania looking to peddle their contraband, which was in this case extremely unusual - carved ivory.

Big Life’s intelligence network, working with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), has confiscated more than 3.5 tons of ivory in the last 5 years. Until now this has always been raw ivory, destined to be carved on foreign shores. This is the first time that we have confiscated ivory worked in Africa.

There were three Tanzanians and one Kenyan in the group, taking advantage of the international border for access to larger markets, as well as to avoid being caught. What they didn’t expect was a coordinated response.

Big Life has undercover informers working in both countries, one of whom heard about the ivory for sale in Tanzania. A multinational arrest team took over, involving Kenya Wildlife Service and Tanzania National Parks Authority, which caught two of the men with the ivory. The other two of the gang were already gone, but their escape was always going to be temporary.

After three weeks, informers managed to track the two on the run, and they were arrested. They have joined their colleagues in jail.

The Amboseli ecosystem spans an international border, putting it in a perfect storm for criminal activity. This is why Big Life established the first coordinated cross-border anti-poaching and anti-trafficking effort in East Africa. This bust demonstrates why these cross-border operations are as important as ever.