In late May, Mara Elephant Project received an urgent alert: A lone, one-month-old elephant calf had been spotted by rangers in Mara North Conservancy (MNC), without her mother in sight. MEP and MNC rangers, together with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials, immediately launched a search to reunite the calf with her family. For a moment, there was hope, she ran straight toward a nearby herd. But hours of close monitoring confirmed the heartbreaking truth: the herd rejected her, leaving her completely alone.
As night fell, and with the calf growing weak and hungry, critical action had to wait until the daylight hours. So, that night, KWS Vet Dr. Ashif Hafiz, alongside rangers from MEP, KWS, and MNC, stayed with the baby, feeding and monitoring her condition at a nearby ranger camp. At first light, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) team arrived to safely transport her to their Nairobi elephant orphanage, where she could benefit from their expert care. While never the outcome we wished to see, we are grateful for our partners and their coordinated effort to give this baby a fighting chance at life.
MEP rangers on a joint patrol with KWS intercepted a lorry packed with over 2,000 posts harvested from the endangered cedar tree species in the Loita Forest. The lorry was operating with concealed registration plates, leading rangers to believe the driver was trying to escape the hawk eyes. The posts were seized, and the vehicle was impounded. MEP has been operating in the Loita Forest since 2019 and is expanding its efforts to help establish a long-term community-based forest protection, thanks to support from the LGT Venture Philanthropy Foundation. It will take unwavering collaborative efforts to protect this important.
In May, MEP participated in three total elephant treatments in partnership with KWS, SWT, and the local community. In one of the treatments, on May 14, the MEP mobile ranger team assisted KWS Vet Dr. Njoroge from the SWT Mobile Vet Unit to treat a male juvenile elephant in Mara Ripoi Conservancy. MEP rangers noted the injury while conducting their drone patrols in the area. The elephant was treated for a spear wound on the left rump, and the prognosis is good. MEP rangers will keep monitoring the elephant as he recovers.
The MEP helicopter proved to be an invaluable asset once again. In May, the helicopter was deployed to neighboring Naboisho Conservancy to assist KWS Vet Dr. Ashif Hafiz in darting an injured elephant for treatment. The elephant, a sub-adult bull, had been monitored struggling to walk, prompting community members in the area to call MEP rangers for further investigation. The helicopter was key in separating the injured elephant from its herd before it was darted. An arrow, lodged deep in its back, was successfully removed, the wound was treated, and the elephant was later released with a positive prognosis. Naboisho Conservancy and MEP rangers are monitoring the elephant as it heals.
Also in May, the second phase of the MEP Training of Trainers (ToT) program, supported by the Basecamp Explorer Foundation – Kenya, kicked off. 30 rangers from 16 conservancies across the Mara landscape reported on May 25 at the MEP HQ, where they will be spending the next three weeks undergoing the second phase of the training, which is mostly teach-back sessions with the rangers practically taking over these sessions and facilitating the training amongst themselves.
Overall, in May, MEP rangers removed 54 snares, destroyed 18 charcoal-making kilns and 45 charcoal sacks. One suspect was arrested with 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lbs.) of ivory, while nine others were arrested for habitat destruction activities. The MEP SWT Mau De-Snaring Units in collaboration with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), KWS, and the local Emitik rangers, conducted joint patrols and in 6 weeks between April and May, and removed 102 snares from Mau Forest in Kenya. These traps, set by illegal bushmeat poachers, pose a serious threat to endangered species such as the mountain bongo antelope and elephants. MEP operates two full-time ranger units in the Mau Forest to patrol, protect, and preserve this crucial habitat.
Drones were not only vital to human-elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation in May, but also deployed to aerially monitor their area of operation for illegal activity. A total of 10 HEC incidents were mitigated using drones in May. MEP rangers responded to a large bull elephant – Individual #59 – who, undeterred by an electric fence, was heading toward a home with people and livestock. Deploying their drone and coordinating efforts on the ground, MEP rangers guided him back to safety.
If illegal habitat destruction activities are detected by the drone, the ranger team records the coordinates and proceeds by vehicle or on foot to the site where they either seize or destroy the illegal goods. In May, the MEP “Bravo” ranger team found three kilns inside the Loita Forest thanks to their drone surveillance.
During World Endangered Species Day on May 16, MEP announced the expansion of its endangered species protection efforts by bringing the Bongo Surveillance Project (BSP) in-house to support its worthwhile mission, allowing the team to focus on growth and impact. BSP is the only dedicated wild mountain bongo antelope protection organization in the world. Listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the mountain bongo is found only in Kenya and is on the verge of extinction in the wild due to poaching and habitat loss. BSP aims to secure a future for the last remaining mountain bongo antelope in the wild and engage the community to protect the forests where they live. Operationally, MEP and BSP rangers have led many successful joint patrols in the Mau Forest to increase protection for both elephants and mountain bongo. Given this connection, MEP is committed to supporting the BSP Trustees during this transformative time. See the full announcement here.
Finally, the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship continues to empower aspiring Kenyan conservationists, as one of the students, Mary Wangari, a student from Kenyatta University, started her internship at the MEP HQ. So far, she has been having a hands-on learning experience with the MEP conservation education team. Mary has participated in a tree planting exercise during a recent education event, attended an elephant monitoring activity, and visited the MEP coexistence farm. “My internship with the Mara Elephant Project has been an inspiring journey, teaching me practical conservation skills, deepening my passion for protecting elephants, and showing me the power of community in creating a future where people and wildlife can thrive together,” says Mary.
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