This year has not gone according to anyone’s plans. We have never experienced a situation quite like Covid-19 has handed us, but our rangers, our staff, and our programs are resilient and very well prepared to handle the challenges we’re currently experiencing.

In the wake of the pandemic, tourism has evaporated across Africa. We feel it acutely in Kenya, as the economy of the ecosystem where Big Life operates is so heavily reliant upon it. Those now out-of-work are looking for other ways to make ends meet, which is why our wildlife security programs are more important than ever. We will not tolerate poaching activity in our area of operation, and the poachers know it. To minimize their exposure, our rangers are staying with their outposts and receiving fresh provisions remotely.

Our headquarters is quiet these days but not closed. Only limited, senior personnel are based out of the office, and those who can are working remotely.

Our community programs have been impacted the hardest. Schools of course are closed. Unfortunately, our corner of the world is not set up yet for remote learning. Our mobile health clinics are also on hold, due to the fact that hundreds gather on such days. There’s simply not enough PPE to hold the clinics safely. But our community health volunteers are out in force, disseminating information about how to prevent the spread of the virus, and are provisioned with soap and facemasks.

We’re disappointed as well to have to postpone the Maasai Olympics until 2021. The games add positive energy to our community, something we could all use more of right now. But it’s the only safe thing to do, and as always, the safety of our community comes first.

I’ve been running conservation initiatives in the Chyulu Hills area for 30 years, 10 of those under the mantle of Big Life. I have seen unspeakable tragedies committed against our wildlife but today, there are real, measurable successes across the ecosystem, beyond what I could have ever imagined when we got started. We will not lose momentum in the face of this virus. We will not slack in our commitment to protect the wildlife and wild lands for the benefit of us all.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Richard Bonham
Director of Operations, Big Life Kenya

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Photo: Jeremy Goss

Every scavenger that visits an elephant carcass wants something. But only one is interested in the elongated white shapes that emerge from the skull.

This particular scavenger thought that he was alone. It was a reasonable assumption, given that the giant bones lay strewn miles from anywhere. The old elephant apparently died after getting stuck in thick mud, and with access to the swampy area impossible during the past rainy season, no-one had found the carcass yet.

As a result, and unusually, the two tusks were still embedded in the skull. The man took note, a plan forming in his mind. He returned to his livestock, but didn’t notice another pair of eyes watching him. A second herder, just far enough away to remain unseen.

The second herder later went to see what had been of so much interest to the first. He also took note of the tusks and returned to his herd, but with different intentions. He planned to return the following morning without his livestock, collect the ivory and hand it into Big Life.

On his return early the next day, he realized immediately that something was wrong.

One tusk was missing. Someone had beaten him to it, and the first herder was the obvious suspect. So to Big Life he delivered one tusk and information.

Undercover informers kept a close eye on the first herder, waiting for a suspicious move. Days went by and he did nothing with the tusk. As is often the case with opportunists, the ivory scavenger had taken the tusk without a plan, and had no immediate buyers to sell to.

Rather than risk losing the ivory into the supply chain, and knowing that this was an opportunist and not a wanted poacher, Big Life made the decision to confront the man. With a hint of a wry smile, he cooperated and immediately gave up the tusk. As with all ivory recoveries, it was handed over to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) together with the first tusk.

Catching poachers is important, but it is only by keeping all ivory out of the trade that we can strangle it completely. Thanks to a huge effort in which Big Life has played a central role, elephant poaching has been controlled across the Greater Amboseli ecosystem. But elephants still die from a variety of causes, and the ivory must be recovered and kept from falling into the wrong hands. Thanks to our extensive ranger and aerial patrols, and intelligence operations like this one, over the last five years we have worked with KWS to consistently maintain an 80%+ ivory recovery rate in our core area of operation from elephant carcasses.

When it comes to elephant tusks, the old adage of “finder’s keepers” does not hold true. Those who decide to take the chance should know that in Amboseli, there is always someone watching.

Lions and owls would have little to discuss. They share a preference for night-time activity, but don’t otherwise have much in common. Food, however, changes everything.

This very unusual image, of a lioness and a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, was captured by a remote camera trap left at the carcass of an antelope, exposing a world not usually seen by human eyes.

Both species polarize human opinion. While some people travel thousands of kilometers to see lions in the wild, others would happily kill every last one to remove the threat to their livestock. Owls are revered by some societies as a symbol of wisdom, whereas in Maasailand they are a bad omen, and if one lands on your roof then it is seen as a harbinger of death for someone that you know.

Owls are not only feared. In Kenya, they are also now threatened by the illegal trade in their eggs for witchcraft. Ridiculously, owl eggs are claimed to have all-encompassing healing powers, including the ability to cure cancer and HIV. As these myths have spread, owl egg prices have skyrocketed, which is not good news for the birds’ ability to reproduce.

Big Life addresses conservation threats to both species. Our Predator Compensation Fund balances some of the economic losses incurred when lions kill livestock, thereby minimizing retaliatory killing. Meanwhile, our intelligence network monitors the illegal wildlife trade in all species, and Big Life rangers work with the Kenya Wildlife Service to arrest those involved. We have seen some indications of a local owl-egg trade, but by arresting those involved we hope to have discouraged any others from following.

We are working for a future where 100 years from now, one could leave a camera trap in exactly this spot, and catch the descendants of this lion and owl having a similar encounter.

There was just a sliver of moon, and the rangers sat quietly on either side of the path. They had already found the fresh track of a motorbike going in one direction, just as the informant had said. Now they were waiting for its return.

The motorbike eventually followed its headlight back out of the darkness, slowing at the corner and the obstruction in the road. The rangers took their chance, and surprise was on their side. Even had they wanted to, the two poachers had no time to reach for their pangas.

A dead impala was in a sack on the back of the motorbike. To save time, they had simply cut off the lower legs and head, and the rest of the carcass was intact. The poachers were from Tanzania, and that’s where the bushmeat was headed.

This sort of cross-border poaching is a continuing threat in Rombo, in the far south-eastern corner of Big Life’s operating area. Poachers use the international boundary to their advantage, moving back and forth through the invisible barrier that it creates for law enforcement.

Ordinarily, these men would be booked at a Kenyan police station and held until their first court hearing, but things have changed with COVID-19. In order to reduce the load on the courts, and limit congestion in jails, suspects arrested for crimes deemed “less severe” are still booked at a police station, but are then released until their first court appearance. In the case of bushmeat poachers, the courts have little chance of tracking them if they choose to run.

To prevent that from happening, we worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service to make arrangements for the handover of the suspects to the Tanzanian authorities, and the rest of the justice process will continue in Tanzania. For other bushmeat poachers who are arrested and might be temporarily released in the future, the Big Life intelligence network will track them until their court hearings, and assist police in their re-arrest if they choose not to appear.

Arrests like these are an important deterrent for others who might be considering poaching, particularly in this highly unusual time. As COVID-19 slows local economies, and cash runs out, it is likely that some will look to the wildlife trade for income. It’s too early to predict for sure, but we are expecting an increase in poaching, and our rangers are ready for it.