At just 36 years old, Tee-Jay is considered by many to be the crown prince of Amboseli.

While he is impressive in his own right, Tee-Jay is also descended from greatness. As a member of the illustrious T family, his uncle was Tim, his great-uncle was Tolstoy, and his aunts and great-aunts were Theodora and Teresia.

Constable Daniel Kutata loves elephants.

Spending time with him, it doesn’t take long to see why. His knowledge of their behaviour is extraordinary, and he can even identify some individuals by their footprints.

Daniel’s life is inextricably linked with Amboseli’s elephants. He grew up watching them on his literal doorstep in Namelok, a farming settlement close to Amboseli National Park. This has given him an intimate understanding of the good and the bad sides to coexisting with them.

“Elephants are so clever. They can raid a farm and see the crops are not ripe yet and will come back weeks later exactly when it is time to harvest. This is terrible for farmers, but you have to admire how intelligent they are.”

Since Daniel joined Big Life as a ranger in 2018, he has become of our leading specialists in human-elephant conflict, and he credits his father for guiding his boyhood passion towards a career:

“My dad was a verification officer for Big Life’s Predator Compensation Program, and he would always come home and tell me stories about the wildlife he saw, how his job helps prevent conflict with lions, and the importance of protecting wildlife. I learned that you could earn a living by protecting wildlife.”

Now that he is a father to his own children, “I see it as my duty to pass the message to my kids that we must keep wild land, wild. I don’t want my boys to grow up in a world that only has stories about elephants.”

In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing more of Daniel's story and the work he and his fellow rangers do every day on the front-line of human-elephant conflict. If you'd like a behind-the-scenes look at their work, please consider joining our Ranger Club as a monthly donor.

📸: Joshua Clay

What do you see when you look at a giraffe?

Grace personified? A wonder of evolution? A symbol of Africa’s wild places?

Sadly, not everyone sees them that way.

Through my 40-year career in conservation, I’ve had many days turned on their head by a phone call, but this was the one that I had been dreading for a long time.

One Ton was dead.

In an instant, my world seemed to lose some of its magic.

Big Life’s Co-founder Richard Bonham will be sharing his personal reflections later this week, but in the meantime, Big Life is extremely sad to report the loss of One Ton, a Kenya icon. The beloved ‘super tusker’ elephant died in the Chyulu Hills on Sunday.

We are confident his death was due to natural causes, and that provides some comfort, although we may never know the exact reason. He had simply lain down, and there were no signs of any struggle to stand up again.

One Ton had grown into something of a totem for Big Life, after Richard first met him about 30 years ago. At that time, he was skittish and temperamental, but over the decades being protected by Big Life’s rangers, he became exceptionally trusting of people and vehicles.

After knowing him for so long, the loss of this extraordinary individual will leave a huge hole in our hearts. From the rangers who protected him, to the wider Big Life community, to the guides and guests who saw him near daily, as well as the thousands who tuned in from across the world to watch One Ton on the Ol Donyo waterhole livestream.

We estimate that One Ton was in his fifties, which is old for a male elephant of his size, and we had known that this day would come. However sad his death is, One Ton lived a long life and did not die at the hands of man. As conservationists and those who loved him, we really cannot ask for more than that.

Thank you for spending time with us, old friend. Your inspiration lives on in us all.

📸: Jeremy Goss

This year the Chyulu Hills have taken on a new meaning to their fond description of ‘The Green Hills of Africa’.

In several joint operations, our intelligence team has collaborated with the KWS, The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and the Kenya Police to weed out a spate of marijuana cultivation within the Chyulu Hills National Park.

Our intelligence work has resulted in 8 incidents this year, which is already the highest we have recorded since 2018. Two people have been arrested in two cases, with one suspect caught in possession of 108kgs of dried marijuana. Just last week, our informers led KWS and Sheldrick teams to another plantation within the park.

Big Life has been operating in the Amboseli Ecosystem for more than a quarter of a century, and what becomes clear after so many years is that illegal activity often comes in waves. Some years, sandalwood poaching skyrockets, some years it’s bushmeat poaching, this year, there has been a slight uptick in marijuana cultivation.

While trends fluctuate, what remains constant is our presence and determination to protect this ecosystem’s wild spaces.

And that is what is making the difference.