There has been a baby elephant boom in Kenya, and you can join the celebrations.
Amboseli National Park in Kenya is home to the largest concentration of African elephants in the country. In 2020, the reserve was privileged to be home to a record number of baby elephants – a whopping 200 baby pachyderms have been born in the park.
The shutdown of the pandemic has provided a significant benefit for elephants in Africa – poaching rates have dropped dramatically, and this, combined with better protection of elephants, has resulted in this happy turn of events.
The Kenyan government recently conducted a wildlife survey that also recorded a 12% increase in the country’s elephant population – increasing from 16,000 in 1989 to 34,800 by the end of 2019.
This success has been attributed by the Africa Wildlife Foundation (AFW) to a campaign to stem the ki.l.ling, the trafficking, and demand for ivory from elephant tusks. Additionally, heavier-than-usual rainfall in 2019 resulted in more vegetation and fewer elephants d.y.ing from starvation.
In fact, the African Wildlife Foundation was one of the first to “adopt” an elephant for $5,000. Its elephant is called “Namayiana”, which means “blessing ahead” in the Masai language.
You can also name an elephant for half the price – a donation of $2,500. For obvious reasons, you can’t take your baby elephant away, but you’ll receive periodic updates.
Important to their ecosystem, elephants help spread seeds over long distances and maintain the biodiversity of the savanna. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) still considers African elephants a vulnerable species.
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