Elephants in Masai Mara

Elephants in Masai Mara: The Masai Mara National Reserve had the highest population of Elephants on Earth. In the past years, the reserve was greatly affected by a high rate of poaching that led to the great death and reduction of Elephants from 167,000 in the 1973 Elephant population census report to around 20,000 Elephants by 1990.

But the good news came out in 2015 that there were around 30,000 Elephants in Masai Mara National Reserve after the great work of the rangers, the Kenyan government, and the Maasai community through joint hard work to protect them. To conserve these Elephants and the reserve at large, the population is steadily growing year in and year out, with the current reports showing that the growth has increased by 72% since 2014 to date. It’s only in the Masai Mara that elephants are increasing rapidly in the whole world.

Several factors have led to this great achievement, which is contributed directly by the Masai Community, the Kenyan Government, and the Migration of elephants in the ecosystem. The community, together with the government, has applied new mechanisms yearly to curb the poachers, like employing some of the renowned poachers in the ranger system.

This has helped them mostly to identify the weaknesses poachers use to kill these animals, their best timing, areas, and the type of guns they use, not forgetting the market where the black ivory is taken. In 2016, the Kenyan officials burnt a big stock of recovered ivory in an open public viewing as they were demonstrating the government’s intentions of protecting the precious Elephants 100% under the lead of the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who aired out that we shall never be the witnesses of the African leaders who stood as we lost our precious Elephants in masai mara in the hands of the poachers.

This was one of the largest ivory stocks ever burnt in Africa, with over 105 tonnes of ivory. Kenya has been historical when Elephant protection is considered. In 1989, the Kenyan president was the first African leader to burn Elephant ivory, and this has inspired all Kenyans to see the great value of conservation and protection of these animals.