Elephants need all the help they can get

“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”

David Attenborough

Elephants at the Ol Lentille Helipad

Total estimated population of elephants in Kenya – 35,000

Africa was home to millions of elephants until the mid 20th century. The 1980s saw the first major wave of poaching putting numbers down to 600,000. Today Africa’s elephant population is about 415,000.

The growth in human population, creating increased human-elephant conflict, and the resurgence of poaching put elephants at enormous risk. The Kenya Wildlife Service is a very serious force taking security of elephants as its number one challenge. The beefed up Kenya Conservation and Management Act of 2013 stipulates fines of no less than Ksh1 million at all levels of the poaching system, from financiers and traders to poachers.

At Ol Lentille, we have seen our elephant population grow from virtually nothing in 2005 to monthly sightings of over 900. Protecting our elephant population is a daily struggle on the conservancy, particularly during periods of drought when elephants come into constant contact with human populations.

Elephants need all the help they can get.