Tribute to a giant who ‘showed’ us the way
Armstrong in 2023. © Courtesy of Save the Elephants
If you ask the researchers at our Samburu camp when they first saw or heard of Armstrong, most will recall something about this giant of an elephant – whether it was the day – June 5, 2023, his imposing stature or his bold personality. He was that memorable.
Armstrong was a sight to behold; a large bull, clearly in musth, and with a distinctly broken left tusk. He stood out, not just for his stature, but because he was a stranger to our Long Term Monitoring team who have been studying Samburu’s elephant population for nearly three decades. Curious to learn more about this new elephant, we fitted him with a GPS tracking collar and for the next two years, followed his fascinating journeys collecting data all the way.
A life on the move
Armstrong quickly began pushing the boundaries of known movement patterns for male elephants in our study population.
Armstrong (right) in the presence of another bull in Laikipia County in 2024. © Angus Carey-Douglas/Save the Elephants
From Buffalo Springs, he journeyed to Mukogodo Forest, deep in the Laikipia highlands to the southwest of the reserve, then, as rains arrived later in the year, he descended back into the Samburu lowlands before continuing over 100 kms to reach Sera – a community conservancy northeast of Samburu.
It was his movements across community land, in particular, that really caught our attention. He moved quickly, and stealthily, under cover of night, through densely human-populated areas, and ambled more visibly, during daylight hours, in areas of untarnished wilderness where he felt safe. And when new settlements blocked his way, Armstrong would break down any obstacles in his path – even if they were fences constructed around homesteads – possibly showing us, and the affected communities, where elephant migratory paths are located.
This map, created by Save the Elephants’ researchers, shows the major livestock and wildlife corridors across northern Kenya
During his journeys, Armstrong traversed several key migratory corridors, including the Oldonyiro corridor which connects Samburu and Laikipia. And in his final days, he was recorded using the Naisunyai corridor to move from Matthews Range to Westgate Conservancy. This particular corridor is a lifeline for elephants like him but it now hangs in the balance. It is under threat from new power lines, solar-pump systems, road expansion, and the resulting surge in human settlements likely to result from these infrastructure projects. Sadly, this is the case for most wildlife migratory routes in this shrinking habitat.
A voice for elephants in a changing world
Armstrong’s movements provided additional insights into how bulls roam and make decisions in response to a changing landscape. With expanding human populations, climatic pressures and infrastructure development threatening connectivity across the northern Kenya rangelands, elephants like Armstrong are learning to navigate fragmented habitats, despite putting themselves in danger of increased conflict with people.
A team from Save the Elephants marking an identified livestock and wild corridor in northern Kenya. © Courtesy of Save the Elephants
His travels through critical corridors gave us fresh insights into how male elephants use these pathways to link wild spaces in northern Kenya. It’s thanks to tracked elephants that we’ve been able to identify and demarcate eight livestock and wildlife corridors in northern Kenya, including the Naisunyai corridor which connects the Samburu and Laikipia ecosystems.
GPS tracking data from collared elephants allows Save the Elephants to generate powerful maps that provide unquestionable proof of elephant movements, pinpointing these corridors, identifying their needs and allowing us to give them a voice in development planning.
Sadly, in July this year, this brave traveller died from natural causes following a gastrointestinal illness. He was in his 40s, still in his prime for a species with a typical lifespan of 60 to 70 years, though males can live up to 90.
His time with us might have been short, but the paths he charted live on, and will continue to inform our conservation efforts, quite literally showing us the way for years to come.
Armstrong feeding in Buffalo Springs National Reserve in 2023. © Courtesy of Save the Elephants
Roam freely in ele-heaven, Armstrong. You are missed.