This year was worth celebrating as Mara Elephant Project gathered employees and stakeholders in December to officially christen our new office in the Mara. 2024 tested us, but we’re proud of the team’s integrity and grit when faced with adversity and made sure to celebrate the accomplishments of our brave men and women working to protect elephants and communities in the Mara. MEP Deputy Chair Kevin Rodrigues and Advisory Committee members Loic Amado, Valery Super and Teddy Kinyanjui were on hand to help the CEO announce promotions and bonuses for a job well done. The ribbon cutting on our new office was a symbol for everyone at MEP that change is inevitable and not all bad; a sentiment worth celebrating.
In December, MEP assisted with a translocation and collaring operation. Three bull elephants in the Rumuruti Forest Reserve were breaking through fences and moving into farms putting themselves and the bordering communities in danger. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers on the ground tirelessly responded, but more drastic measures were needed to keep everyone safe. MEP responded to the emergency request from KWS and worked with their capture unit to translocate the bulls to Tsavo West National Park and deployed collars to track their movements. Over the multi-day operation, CEO Marc Goss flew the MEP helicopter to support the ground team and after careful coordination, all three bulls were successfully moved over 460 km (286 miles) away to their new home. Their continuous tracking will support KWS and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute’s (WRTI) efforts to reduce conflict and better understand whether the bull’s crop raiding motivation was opportunistic or intentional. They’ve now joined another collared bull elephant, Tino, in his home range, who is thriving and experiences little conflict all in hopes of promoting coexistence.
Also sporting a new collar deployed in December, elephant Indy. Originally collared in 2021, her and her herd’s movements have been tracked through an area plagued by high levels of human-elephant conflict. Thanks to support from the Indianapolis Zoological Society, over the past three years, data from her collar has informed MEP ranger patrols and provided valuable insights to KWS and WRTI about elephant movement patterns in this challenging landscape.
Early in the month, the MEP helicopter was deployed to assist the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) Mobile Vet Unit and the South Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO) to treat a bull elephant suffering from a poisoned arrow wound in the Shompole area. The MEP helicopter carrying KWS Vet Dr. Njoroge helped the team dart and guide the bull into position for his treatment. Thanks to everyone’s rapid response, the arrowhead was successfully removed, and the wound disinfected. The SORALO ground team will continue to monitor the bull’s recovery. Then, later in the month, MEP rangers worked with our partner KWS Vet Dr. Njoroge from the SWT Mobile Vet Unit to treat the bull elephant for an arrow wound on both its right and left hind limbs. The bull, identified as individual 58 in the MEP ElephantBook database,will continue to be closely monitored by MEP rangers until he fully recovers.
MEP ranger teams coordinated by their respective drone pilots, responded swiftly to reports of elephants breaking fences around farms. Overall, in December, MEP rangers alongside government partners arrested five habitat destruction suspects and removed a total of 67 snares. They also confiscated 38 pieces of timber, 351 posts, destroyed 14 charcoal kilns, and mitigated nine conflict incidents. In December, MEP rangers covered a distance of 2,614.18 km on foot and 13, 720.34 km in a vehicle in the GME.
The Coexistence team hosted local groups and community members for trainings on farming non-palatable crops and to provide updates on their various program successes and applications in 2025.
A sweet moment in December, MEP collared elephant Fitz and his herd welcomed a new calf, spotted during a drone monitoring exercise by MEP rangers. Both mother and baby were healthy, adapting well to their forest home.
Finally, we had the pleasure of being featured in a StarLink advertisement and a Robinson Helicopter Company feature in December.
We also exceeded our December fundraising goal of $500,000!
