An elephant never forgets

…Unless it’s dead

Tanzania has resumed elephant hunting along the Kenyan border for the first time in 30 years. Five big bulls from Kenya have been killed in the last seven months with major negative consequences for Amboseli and Tsavo’s elephant populations. We spoke with one of the world’s leading elephant researchers, Joyce Poole, to find out more about this unfolding tragedy, including the ecological importance of these older elephant bulls, and what can be done to stop the killing.

This newsletter is about a topic close to our hearts, and for those of you who have been with us on the Great Walk of Africa, we know it will be close to yours as well. Please put 3 minutes aside and read it end-to-end.

In 1996 Iain was fortunate to walk a section of the Great Walk of Africa with the American elephant biologist, Joyce Poole. What he learned about elephants on that safari completely changed his attitude towards what we were doing on our 100 mile walk across Tsavo. Iain explained, “We realised it was all about elephants. There are dozens of other species to be seen on the walk, but the elephant stands supreme. This is not just owing to their intelligence and intricate family structure, but because of the impact they have on the ecosystem in general. Put simply, the ecosystem exists because of them.”

Neighbouring Tsavo, to the southwest, lies the world-famous park, Amboseli. It is one of the most unique parks in Africa, owing to its spectacular location directly beneath the northern slopes of Kilimanjaro, but also as being the region where the world's longest and most intensive study of elephants has taken place. What we know today about elephants, has come directly from work started by Cynthia Moss over 50 years ago, and is still guided by her today.

Amboseli, however, has a major problem. It lies directly along the border with Tanzania to the south, where there stands a block of land set aside for trophy hunting. Kenya banned game hunting in 1977 but Tanzania never has. If you are considering a safari to Ngorongoro Crater or the Serengeti in northern Tanzania, then think twice, because you are endorsing a country where for US$10-20,000 you can buy a permit to shoot an elephant. In this day and age, particularly in light of what we now know about elephants, this is simply disgusting.

Let's look closer at what is happening. The elephants of Amboseli are a cross-border population of about 2,000, many of whom inhabit both Kenya and Tanzania. In late 2023, two Amboseli adult males with tusks reportedly weighing over 100lbs were shot in Tanzania, close to the border with Amboseli. The wealthy hunters, who are mainly Americans, position themselves close to Amboseli and wait for the elephant bulls to cross. Some have been shot 25 km inside Tanzania. As we write, the beautiful bull elephant, Esau, is 30 km inside Tanzania; he is alive owing to him having been collared. He is fortunate because we know that he has been filmed by the hunters. These bulls have had no history of poaching or being shot at, they are used to humans, and show no fear in their presence. You can drive right up to them. They are easy targets.

A third elephant was shot in late February, 2024, and a fourth at the end of March. A report is just coming in that a fifth bull has been shot during the past few days.

You might ask yourself: Why is the killing of a few bull elephants in Tanzania threatening the population in Amboseli? Here is the reason why:

Approximately 30 adult male elephants, over the age of 25 years, use this region in Tanzania as part of their home range. As explained by Joyce Poole, co-founder and Scientific Director of ElephantVoices:

“Fifty years of research on Amboseli's known individuals has shown that males between 35 and 55 years of age are the primary breeders. Hunters who claim that older males are “dead wood” are just plain ignorant of the science. Males who are given the chance to live to an old age produce a disproportionate number of offspring, passing their genes to the next generation. By killing large tusked males, hunters are damaging elephant society, negatively impacting Amboseli's rare gene pool for large tusks, and taking a toll on its future tourism potential.”

Let's for a moment place the moral issue aside, and look at elephant hunting from a cold, economic perspective; the argument for killing simply doesn't add up. A recent iworry report stated that the estimated tourism value of a single living elephant is US$1.6 million over its lifetime, to travel companies, airlines, and local economies. This is 80x greater than the cost of a hunting permit. An important resource for the Tanzanian people is being squandered by their government for the benefit of wealthy foreigners.

The situation needs to be rectified quickly, and many groups are trying; conservation groups have been vocal and are tracking as many bulls as possible to stop them straying too far into Tanzania; the Kajiado county government, which runs Amboseli has been vocal, writing an open letter asking the President of Kenya to intervene, and the World Bank has halted all its tourism aid money to Tanzania until it stops the killing. These are all moves in the right direction.

What can you do?

Please access ElephantVoices web page, and there you will find a list of options that we suggest you go through.

We will keep those of you, who will be joining us on our Great Walk of Africa safaris, updated on the situation throughout this coming summer.