Stories

The news for the land of Turkana is a mixture. Quite fortunately, last year’s clashes with the neighboring Borana tribe have subsided, and the families that were displaced during the troubles have returned to their homes. Although making a living...

After crossing the Ewaso Ngiro River into Samburu country, one of the first elephants we saw was a bull named Philo. He was very recently named, as he was new to the area. It was a good omen, I thought at the time. But this encounter was to be the...

We hadn’t known Philo for very long. He had been using the reserve for the last year, but was absent from the area for long periods. He was probably in the stage of his life as a young male where he was solidifying his dispersal, exploring new...

My name is Elleni Stephanou and I have lived in Kenya my entire life! I thought I had seen it all, from annual game drives, to volunteering at chimpanzee sanctuaries and turtle rehab centre’s, but in August of 2012 I realised how wrong I had...

Male elephants continue to grow throughout their lives, getting bulkier and broader. Older males enjoy a greater competitive advantage and higher reproductive success. Many have a characteristic time of year when they are seeking mates, and as they...

“It is absurd for a man to kill an elephant. It is not brutal, it is not heroic, and certainly it is not easy; it is just one of those preposterous things that men do like putting a dam across a great river, one tenth of whose volume could engulf...

Happy New Year!  What an adventure this has been so far.  I realize now how lucky I am to be volunteering at Save The Elephants in Samburu National Reserve! I’m Christina Toms, an MFA student in Film Production and Creative Writing at The...

On December 26 I came back from the field to find about eighty elephants milling around close to camp, right next to the rangers' post. As with any large group of elephants, not everyone is doing the same thing at once, though because it was in the...

Christmas in Kenya was yet another fascinating cultural experience. We were fortunate enough to join people at Elephant Watch to celebrate the event with them. Festivities began with a sundowner soda and plenty of goat meat with chappati. Once the...

Driving along as usual, on the lookout for elephants one afternoon, we heard a lot of excited trumpeting not far from where we were. Heading to the source of the noise, we came across numerous pairs of juvenile and sub-adult males play-fighting...