In some ways, it’s never been easier to spot an elephant. As one of the most revered and celebrated animals, they are depicted in millions of ways around the world. From prehistoric rock art to modern rock music posters, you don’t have to look far to find one.

Tragically, the replicas exponentially outpace the real, wild, living, breathing animals that inspire such awe. The reasons for their disappearance from the savannas of East Africa are simple: poaching, human-wildlife conflict, habitat loss. And unfortunately, the solutions to these challenges are far more complex. In Big Life Foundation’s area of operation, the most pressing issue has become space.

A few months ago, we introduced you to Tim. When Tim was born, the human population of Kenya was 10 million. Today, it’s 50 million. The increasing demands on the land have been dramatic. Important areas of habitat outside Amboseli National Park are fast being converted into farmland, cutting off migratory corridors for wildlife. The grasslands are under massive pressure from overgrazing, turning them to barren earth, unable to absorb rain when it finally falls.

The simple truth is this: Tim, his fellow elephants, and all other animals in the ecosystem are running out of time and space. They need our help to navigate this increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment. 1.6 million acres is a huge area, and we cannot cover it all with the permanent ranger outposts. It’s up to the five Big Life Mobile Ranger Units to protect Tim and other animals when they move into the areas dominated by human activity.

Today, World Elephant Day, please consider supporting Big Life, and help us protect Tim and his fellow wild elephants in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem. We all have the power to choose: actively protect the real deal, or resign ourselves to pictures in history books.

Photo: Ryan Wilkie

Today for World Lion Day, we’re thinking about the 200 lions that live in our area of operation, local Maasai communities, and the shared space they both call home. The landscape in East Africa is changing dramatically. Just as we work to protect vulnerable species, we must also work to find solutions to address the challenges that come with the close cohabitation of large predators and people.

The good news? The solutions are working.

In the 2^nd Quarter this year, we lost ZERO lions in violation of our Predator Compensation Fund (PCF). The fund is designed to alleviate the economic impact of cohabitating with apex predators like lions, and it’s been succeeding beyond expectation. 748 livestock animals (primarily shoats) were killed in the 2^nd quarter and lions were responsible for 179 of those animals. Of course tensions are still high. We worked with local partners to prevent 3 separate retaliatory hunts from occurring, which is one reason zero lions were lost.

But it’s also a Maasai Olympics year, and the games are helping the local community to view lions differently. Instead of participating in traditional lion hunts, the local Maasai warriors instead compete for medals and demonstrate their prowess in the public arena. Team selections have already occurred and regional competitions are beginning. The finals will occur on December 15, 2018.

The success of the Maasai Olympics program is featured in a new documentary called Tribe Vs. Pride, which airs on NatGeo WILD tonight for World Lion Day (check local listings). 

Thank you as always for your support.

When it rains, it pours. And sometimes, literally. We had more rain the first half of 2018 than we’ve seen in the last two years combined. The impact has been dramatic across the entire ecosystem. Initially, it was devastating – taking out roads, separating families, and drowning humans and wildlife alike. However, the abundance of water and associated strong recovery of pasture has created an ecosystem of plenty. In a place where so many battles are fought over natural resources, this has led to a degree of peace and quiet, particularly on the human-elephant conflict front.

In the second quarter, we had zero confirmed elephant deaths from either poaching or human-elephant conflict. There were also zero cases of elephants injured by humans, because there were no cases in which elephants were hunted in retaliation for damages. And despite regular patrolling, no snares were found.

We would have preferred some zeroes in our statistics on wildlife crime. However, we arrested 26 suspects for possession of illegal wildlife trophies, and in doing so confiscated 237 kg of ivory in different areas of Kenya. That ivory will never see the black market, and we’re grateful for the help of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and other partners and informers in accomplishing this.

Frequent training is critical to keep rangers’ skills fresh and relevant in a dynamic conservation environment. Our rangers will be even more skilled moving forward, as we worked with partners to launch the Amboseli Conservation Academy during the second quarter. The Academy will provide advanced and refresher courses to supplement the training received by rangers at the KWS Manyani training school, and in the future, we hope to see the number and scope of courses grow to include a wide range of topics and audiences.

The Big Life rangers have a lot of animals to protect, but there is one in particular that stands out: a new baby Eastern black rhino. This is a huge milestone in our rhino protection work, all done in close partnership with KWS. At such a low number, the population is still highly vulnerable, and Big Life rangers are working to keep every single individual safe from harm.

As always, the community remains top of mind in all that we do. For one thing, we’ve taken on the implementation of mobile health clinics in one part of the ecosystem, and would love to expand this further with time. It’s hard to be positive about wildlife conservation when you’re battling to meet the basic needs of your family, and we hope that these clinics will contribute to a happier, healthier community. The response has been positive. Two of these clinics in the second quarter reached 527 patients, providing medical and family planning services, and administering deworming medication to over 1,100 children.

All of these results are thanks to our supporters – both our local partners in the field and our donors around the globe. THANK YOU.

Richard Bonham
Director of Operations, Big Life Kenya

READ THE FULL 2ND QUARTERLY REPORT

One shouldn’t be happy about the suffering of others, but in this case we can’t help it.  Today, 50 runners from around the world embarked on a grueling 5-day, 230 km ultra-marathon across 5 conservancies in northern Kenya. You might rightly ask why someone would put themselves through that (and why we would be happy about it). Because it’s all to raise money and awareness for rhino conservation and the well-being of rangers.

In partnership with Beyond the Ultimate Race Series, Big Life supporters For Rangers and Save the Rhino International created the race: "For Rangers Ultra". The run takes athletes on a journey through some of the wilderness areas that they are racing to protect, and eventually over a finish line on the equator. 

This event, and others by For Rangers, have raised much-needed funds and this year alone the efforts have brought in more than $65,000 for all beneficiaries. Big Life is grateful for the support received since the start of the For Rangers fundraising campaign in 2015, which over the years has allowed us to purchase ranger uniforms and equipment, conduct repairs and maintenance on ranger outposts, and to provide life insurance coverage for all Big Life rangers.

So today, we wish all of the participants good luck and minimal suffering, and we thank you for supporting Big Life rangers! 

Images: Clifford Pickett