4 stars for Big Life! Charity Navigator has become one of the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluators of charities. Its rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's performance: Financial Health and Accountability/Transparency. 

Big Life is thrilled to announce that it has been rated 4-stars, the highest possible rating, with Charity Navigator! This means we’ve earned top marks as an accountable, transparent, & financially healthy organization.

We hope this sterling accolade provides you – our trusted donors and supporters – with further confidence in the impact of your donations.

Charity Navigator has become one of the nation's largest, most trusted, and most-utilized evaluators of nonprofit organizations, and has received praise from respected publications such as: TIME Magazine, Forbes, Reader's Digest, PC World, BusinessWeek, and Kiplinger's Financial Magazine. 

The Kimana Sanctuary was born a star, one of the first community-owned and run wildlife sanctuaries in East Africa. The year was 1996. Visitors flocked to this beautiful place, and it seemed that the high hopes for tourism income were to become reality.

But as in so many fairytales, it wasn’t long before things started to go wrong. Corruption, lack of accountability and transparency, unfulfilled promises made by tourism operators, and community in-fighting turned hope into regret. The Kimana Sanctuary quickly turned from a case study of what to do right into a case study of what can go wrong.

By 2013, things had hit rock bottom, following the exit of the tourism operator after a long legal battle. Big Life was supporting anti-poaching operations in the area at the time, but it was clear that the Sanctuary was not going to last long without a proper income stream for the local community. Tourism was the major hope.

The status quo went unchanged for a few years with another management company in place, until Big Life took action in 2017. Funded by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Big Life took over the annual lease of the Sanctuary and assumed management responsibility. But we were already behind the curve; the Sanctuary needed to start generating income in a hurry.

Luckily, Big Life was able to turn to a few generous partners who could help make this goal a reality. With support from the D.N. Batten Foundation, Big Life was able to secure the physical assets within the sanctuary, including four ranger outposts. And, with funding from GEF/UNDP, we were able to rehabilitate a guesthouse in the Sanctuary and get some basic campsites up and running.

It was like unblocking a stream, the visitors started to trickle in again. And then flow. 165 people visited the Sanctuary in the first 6 months of 2018. A year later, 741 people visited during the same period of 2019, a remarkable 350% increase.

The fairytale seems to be getting back on track and it seemed appropriate to start again, to forget the regrets and reset the hopes. So last week, the Kimana Sanctuary was ‘re-launched’ in a celebration run by the Kimana Community, and attended by the guest-of-honor and Governor of Kajiado County, H.E Hon. Joseph ole Lenku.

A new ribbon was cut, but it’s still the same community with the same aspirations. The Kimana Sanctuary is more important than ever. It provides the promise of wildlife-related income to its community owners, as well as water and freedom of movement for wildlife moving to and from Amboseli National Park.

There is still much to do, but for now, this fairytale looks like it may have a happy ending after all.

On World Ranger Day we shared an incredibly moving story about Sergeant Mutinda Ndivo who turned from poacher to protector.  Since 2003, instead of living a life of crime, Mutinda has been protecting and saving wildlife, while also being an inspiration to his community. Countless animals are alive today because of his direct contributions at Big Life, including leading Big Life’s Tracker Dog Unit.

Sergeant Mutinda was recently selected as a Paradise African Ranger Award winner; one of 50 Rangers from 17 different countries who were honored. An international panel of judges reviewed the entries based on their dedication, contribution, threats, and challenges overcome, as well as leadership and inspiration.

Congratulations, Mutinda and thank you for your service!

If you'd like to support Rangers like Sergeant Mutinda Ndivo, please consider joining Big Life's Ranger Club.

Photo courtesy of Ranger Club member, Jane Michaelides-Smith.

She was never meant to become a tracker dog. When Big Life received our first pedigreed tracker dog in 2010, he needed a companion, and what better place to find a friend than the Kenya SPCA?

Didi was just another face in the line-up at the shelter, but as Big Life’s Director of Operations and Co-Founder Richard Bonham walked down the row of barking dogs, there was something about her that gave him pause. A hint of German Shepherd, and the pluck to push her way through the rest of the dogs to the front of the cage. She had spirit.

So began Didi’s unlikely journey from street mutt to tracker dog. She followed along to all the tracking lessons, simply as company for the ‘real’ tracker dog being groomed for the job. But it turns out that Didi was listening in class, and she started to surprise her handlers with her tracking skills.

Not only did she have an extremely refined nose, but over time, Didi started to prove that she was as tough as nails. She demonstrated incredible stamina and focus and was able to stay on a track for much longer than a typical dog. It wasn’t long before she was the handlers’ favorite to lead the chase in real-life situations.

Didi’s early successes at apprehending poachers soon became well known, and her mere presence became a strong deterrent for potential poachers. Perhaps her most important achievement was the more than 15 km of tracking leading to the arrest of two suspects who had killed five elephants in Tsavo West National Park. She was also a hero to members of our local communities, having tracked and found countless numbers of children lost in the wilderness, as well as an occasional thief.

Today, it is with great sadness that we announce Didi’s death due to kidney failure. Didi made a huge impact during her life with us and will be sorely missed.

As one of Didi’s handlers said, “Didi’s work has left a great footprint in Amboseli, and I realize now that not all warriors apply red ochre.”

Thank you, Didi, for your service.