This year, honor the head of your pride with a custom Father’s Day card.

For a donation of $50 or more we will send a personalized card, or if you prefer, we can send a digital copy via email. Our Father’s Day card features an impressive male lion on the cover, and an elephant from Big Life’s area of operation with an acknowledgment of your generous donation in their honor on the inside.

Place your order before June 11 to ensure timely delivery.

I am writing to you today on the cusp of some seriously good news: the National Environmental Tribunal has just ruled against KiliAvo, the owners of the avocado farm being developed in the middle of the Kimana Wildlife Corridor. The company’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) license has subsequently been revoked as a result of this decision.

We’ve been fighting this development along with our partners since last fall, watching as irrigation and fencing were erected in contradiction of all the established land-use plans for the area. Big Life is not against farming, but it needs to be done in the right areas that won’t cause harm, not in the midst of a wildlife corridor zoned for conservation and heavily utilized by elephants and livestock alike.

This is likely not the end of this battle, but this case sets an important precedent. Which is particularly important as we are facing some serious challenges in the Greater Amboseli ecosystem as development expands and communities begin the process of subdividing into private parcels what was previously communally owned land.

In the meantime, the first quarter of the year has flown by and our rangers continue their critical work protecting the ecosystem at large. They’ve patrolled more than 129,000 km, arrested 15 suspects, and confiscated ivory and other illegal items, without a single elephant lost to poachers. They’ve also prevented elephants from raiding crops no less than 28 times.

But we did face some tragic losses this quarter as well. A young girl was killed in an incident with an elephant, a devastating blow for her family and the community. While we were able to cover funeral expenses for her family and education costs for one of her siblings in secondary school, it will never replace the life of their child.

These conflicts, especially the ones that end tragically, highlight the need to designate space for wildlife, where human development is limited. We will continue to do all we can to make sure that everyone’s best interests – human and animal alike – are taken into account.

In the meantime, thank you, as always, for your support.

Richard Bonham

Director of Operations in Kenya and Co-Founder

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It is with great sadness that we share the news about the passing of one of our rangers, Ann Maloi, after a valiant battle with cancer.

Ann joined Big Life’s team in 2018. She had a background in tourism and hospitality, but more importantly, she had a shining personality and megawatt smile that could not be dimmed. She was rapidly promoted and became an integral part of our radio room operations. Ann was undeniably a rising star at our headquarters, and we are all devastated by the loss.

She leaves behind two young children, the youngest of which was born while she was employed as a ranger. When the time comes, we have committed to fully fund the cost of education for her eldest child, and currently we are supporting her family as best we can through this painful time.

At her memorial service this week, Ann’s fellow rangers carried her casket. Going forward, they and all of us at Big Life will carry her memory and honor her legacy by continuing the work she cherished: helping to protect the Greater Amboseli ecosystem for the benefit of all.

An informant received a tip that someone was trying to sell ivory. The trafficker had 12 pieces weighing just over 35 kg. Posing as an interested buyer, the informant laid the trap, and KWS made the arrest.

These 12 pieces will never make it to Asia. They’ve been confiscated and will join the government stockpile for cataloging, DNA analysis, and presumably, ultimately destroyed. The last big ivory burn in Kenya took place in 2016, the world’s largest at the time.

But it’s worth noting that these 12 pieces came from 4 tusks that had been cut into thirds for easier transport (and hiding). While the investigation is ongoing, we do know the two elephants these tusks came from were not from Amboseli. And the arrest, which happened closer to Mombasa, shows just how broad our informer network operates, well outside our area of operation.  

Big Life’s rangers and informer network continue to seize ivory, but we’re noticing less and less moving through the ecosystem. Whether that’s due to a reduction in demand in Asia as a result of legal ivory markets closing, and thus a lower price point, or other reasons, we can’t say for certain.

What is for certain: we will never stop trying to stem the supply of ivory from Greater Amboseli. Thank you for your support keeping our boots on the ground and our eyes on the horizon.