Elephant Conservation Challenges in East Africa

On the picturesque savannas that connect northern Tanzania to Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, majestic elephants roam freely against the backdrop of the iconic Mount Kilimanjaro.

The elephants, undisturbed by the presence of open-sided 4x4s filled with tourists on the Kenyan side, exhibit a sense of calmness, unaware of the lurking danger just across the border in Tanzania.

Since September, a tragic turn of events has unfolded as five bull elephants, part of the population centered around Amboseli, have fallen victim to poachers in the Tanzanian part of the wildlife corridor. Shockingly, among the victims were two super tuskers, boasting tusks that elegantly brushed the ground.

This series of rapid killings marks an unprecedented threat, reminiscent of the mid-1990s, exposing a breach in the unspoken agreement between the two countries to protect the wildlife in the border area.

The situation sheds light on the complex challenge facing these neighboring nations in harmonizing their divergent wildlife management strategies: Kenya, a proponent of wildlife conservation through tourism, prohibits hunting, while Tanzania, though reliant on wildlife safaris, permits affluent tourists to engage in big game hunting.

Cynthia Moss, an esteemed American zoologist overseeing the Amboseli elephant population as the director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, expressed deep sorrow over the loss, emphasizing her personal connection with these gentle giants. With only a handful of super tuskers remaining in Amboseli and a few more scattered across Kenya, the urgency to protect these iconic animals has never been more crucial.