Our Radio Room received an unusual call of a young cheetah or leopard trapped between a stone wall and wire fence on the outskirts of a town. To add to the confusion, blurry images sent by the owner of the compound showed an animal with white and black stripes, features belonging to neither of those species.

When our rangers arrived at the scene the mystery was soon solved.  The trapped animal was a serval, a seldom-seen species of cat found across much of Sub-Saharan Africa that specializes in hunting birds and rodents.

Together with a team from the Kenya Wildlife Service, the serval was captured, put in a bag, and taken a short distance to the Kimana Sanctuary, whose long grass plains are an ideal new home.

Elsewhere in Kenya, this animal would likely have been killed on sight, but because of our close relationships with communities, we were the first port of call. And with ranger teams spread across the ecosystem, we can respond quickly to incidents like this one, ensuring a safe and beneficial outcome for people and wildlife alike.

: Joshua Clay

At dusk, rangers unwind, tell jokes, and recount stories after a long day on patrol.

Of all Big Life’s rangers, one is renowned as a master storyteller, commanding keen audiences wherever he goes: Sergeant Nicholas Mutinda Ndivo, the poacher-turned-ranger. One of his favorites goes as follows:

When Big Life’s anti-poaching program first started in the 1990s, vehicles were few. Ranger units often had to carry their kit and rations on field operations, and the heavy tent poles needed for mobile camps.

A donation made it possible for these units to receive an exciting new technological bray-kthrough: donkeys. These trusty steeds would accompany the rangers, carrying equipment on their long patrols in remote hilly areas.

But Sergeant Mutinda remembers that this wasn’t without the occasional hiccup. He says, “We were hiding near a poacher’s camp in the Chyulu Hills, waiting to ambush some bushmeat poachers. We couldn’t leave our donkey behind overnight as it would be eaten by hyenas, so it had to come with us, even on ambushes.

It was almost dawn, and our donkey was about to start braying. This would have exposed us to the poachers, so we had to jump on it, covering its mouth with our hands. Donkeys are stubborn, and it tried to call four times. Luckily, we managed to keep the donkey quiet and arrested two poachers later that morning.”

Back then, even small improvements like donkeys made a massive difference.

Today, equipment like Land Cruisers, camera traps, and GPS devices have radically improved our operations, but their constant use in tough conditions means they often need to be replaced at a high cost.

Help support our rangers with the equipment they need to protect Amboseli’s wildlife. Donate now.

Photo: Joshua Clay

The people smiling back at you hold the respect of every ranger at Big Life Foundation.

They also have enormous respect for one another.

On the left is Sergeant Mutinda. Once the most feared poacher in the ecosystem, he renounced his craft and redirected his energy into catching poachers.

On the right is Sergeant Kanchorri. He has caught more poachers than any other ranger at Big Life. Even at 56, he is still regarded as one of the fittest and hardest working members of our Rapid Response Units. Mutinda says it well; “Kanchorri is more than just a man, he is easily a man and a half.”

When Kanchorri started working at Big Life as a ranger, Mutinda taught him everything he knew: access routes that poachers used, how they evaded arrest, where they established their camps, and how they set their snares.

This insider knowledge has been instrumental to Kanchorri and to Big Life’s anti-poaching operations.

Kanchorri now leads a team of his own, passing his knowledge on to the next generation of Big Life rangers.

But our rangers need more than knowledge. They need your help.

As Kanchorri states, “Land Cruisers, radios, GPS devices, better uniforms, all make my job as a ranger much easier. We can patrol further, collect information faster, and make more arrests.”

Please consider helping rangers like Sergeant Kanchorri stay well-equipped and on top of the threats facing Amboseli’s wildlife with a donation today. 

Photo: Joshua Clay 

The 6th iteration of the Maasai Olympics reached a thrilling finale last weekend, with all the drama one would expect from a competitive athletics event.

The much-anticipated standing Maasai high-jump, held in golden light at the end of a hot afternoon, was won by a previously obscure athlete who soared ahead of two previous winners to claim victory.

The other events, chosen to showcase traditional warrior skills, included 200m, 800m, and 5,000m running races, club-throwing (for accuracy) and spear/javelin throwing for distance. The women’s events have also become an increasingly competitive part of the day’s program; the 100m and 1,500m running events were very close races.

Mbirikani’s warrior team was the overall winner, for the 5^th time, and walked away with the prize bull (this time donated by a local community member) and trophy.

The idea of the Maasai Olympics was hatched in 2008 by the Menye Layiok, or Maasai “cultural fathers,” and Big Life to create a sports event based on traditional warrior skills to replace the long-held tradition of hunting lions as a mark of bravery and prestige.

Stephen Masindet, 21, from Rombo, won the 5,000m and 800m races. He said: "I started running in 2021 when I was in high school. I came third position but now I’ve been training a lot and today I came first. The Maasai Olympics encourages warriors not to kill lions. Wildlife like lions helps us so we want to protect wildlife. It brings jobs, school fees, tourists and other things so it’s very good and it motivates young people to become athletes."

Special thanks to our main event sponsors for making the day a success: Charles and Judy Tate, Chester Zoo, Play for Nature / Parc Animalier d’Auvergne, Angama Amboseli and WWF Kenya.

Additional sponsors contributed to make the day a success – thank you to all who supported the games this year.

Hongera sana to all who participated!

📸: Jeremy Goss