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Save The Elephants

About | Solutions | Impact | Donate | Stories

STE tracks elephants in Kenya and across Africa.

Save the Elephants has led the charge to save Africa’s elephants both in Kenya—where their headquarters are based—and across the world.
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Elephants are highly intelligent, sensitive, and social beings.

Elephants are among the world’s most intelligent, sensitive and social animals, possessing both empathy and family values. They live in close family groups that over the years have been torn apart by an epidemic of poaching across Africa that is fuelled by a growing demand for ivory. Tens of thousands of African elephants continue to be killed each year for their tusks.

Save the Elephants (STE), founded by renowned elephant expert Dr. Iain Douglas‐Hamilton more than 25 years ago, serves as a long‐term protector of elephants and as their voice and advocate on an international stage. Since the poaching crisis took hold, STE has led the charge to save Africa’s elephants both in Kenya—where their headquarters are based—and across the world.

STE conducts research into the ecology and behavior of wild elephants, providing deep insights into the challenges they face and forging science-based solutions for a harmonious future between elephants and humans. The organization’s research closely follows the wild elephants in STE’s northern Kenya study area in intimate detail, and through tracking elephants in various sites across Africa provides crucial details on the land elephants need in order to thrive. Save the Elephants is working for peaceful coexistence between humans and elephants and provides outreach around the world to help secure a better future for elephants.

Spread the Word! Connect with Save the Elephants on Social Media.

  

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STE is securing a future for elephants.

Learn more about Save the Elephants' work researching, tracking, and protecting these intelligent and beautiful animals by watching their 25th anniversary video.

Luna's Story of Hope and Resilience

This is the story of Luna. A brave and resilient collared elephant whose family was decimated by poachers. Footage: Robbie Labanowski / Save the Elephants and music by Sebastian
Watch Luna's Story
Save the Elephants (Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton)
Our research which records the births and deaths of Samburu's elephants is a particularly sensitive barometer and alerted the world to what is happening with poaching. We reached a tipping point in 2009 where deaths outnumbered births.
Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton

Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Founder and President

Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton’s groundbreaking study of elephant behavior in Tanzania in the 1960’s paved the way for elephant research and conservation today. Intrigued by their intelligence, protection became Iain’s passion. In chronicling the sharp decline of elephant populations in the 1980’s, he was the first to alert the world to the poaching crisis and helped bring about the world ivory trade ban.

Iain is respected as one of the world’s principal authorities on the African elephant. He and his wife Oria have co-authored two award-winning books, Among the Elephants and Battle for the Elephants, and have made numerous films to make the world aware of elephants’ intelligence. Iain himself is an award winner, having received the Indianapolis Prize, one of conservation’s highest lifetime honors, the Order of the Golden Ark conservation award from the Netherlands, and the Commander of the British Empire.

Conservation Solutions

Icon Tackling Wildlife Crime
Icon Reducing Conflict
Icon Scientific Research
Icon Expanding Education
Icon Empowering Women
Icon Boosting Local Economies
Icon Guiding Policy

Ending the Ivory Trade

STE consistently participates in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to urge all international parties to unite in supporting ivory demand reduction and to initiate public awareness campaigns to reduce demand and stop the killing of elephants. In Kenya, STE also employs anti-poaching efforts to ensure that the gains made are long-lasting both for the elephants and for the communities that depend on the landscape they shape.

Elephants & Bees Project

The Elephants and Bees Project reduces damage from crop-raiding elephants on local farms by taking advantage of the elephants’ instinctive avoidance of African honey bees. The project installs Beehive Fences as a natural elephant deterrent, creating a social and economic boost to poverty-stricken rural communities through the sustainable harvesting of “Elephant-Friendly Honey.”

Real Time Monitoring

STE founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton was the first to track elephants using radio collars and STE remains at the forefront of tracking technology, providing near-instantaneous observation of elephants via their GPS location system. This real-time monitoring system is being applied to identify poaching events, with alerts issued via SMS and email to wildlife management and enforcement, allowing rapid response.

Elephant Scholarships

STE encourages students to become ambassadors of their environment by supporting their education and improving the infrastructure of local schools. Through scholarships, conservation education, internships, and resource support in schools within elephant rangelands, STE helps young people work towards their dreams and also preserve their natural heritage.

Basket Weaving

In Sagalla, Kenya, a group of vibrant female basket weavers gathered after seeing a need to form an enterprise group to raise additional income for their families and to stop dependence on income from subsistence farming. Basket weaving has not only served to increase their household’s income but also provides a comfortable social setting where the women can bond and share their experiences and challenges.

Elephants & Bees Project

STE’s Elephants and Bees program has become globally recognized for its ability to reduce human-elephant conflict while providing alternative livelihoods for farmers. Though bees are most famous for their honey (and ability to scare off elephants), beeswax is also a great source for producing candles, lip balm, soap, and body creams that can be sold as a boost for farmers.

CITES & Kenyan Law

During the peak of the elephant poaching crisis, Save the Elephants and members of the Kenya Elephant Forum sat down to draft a policy for the Kenyan President at the time, which eventually led to a new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill. The bill and STE’s continued international efforts at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have been instrumental in protecting elephants.

Icon Tackling Wildlife Crime

Ending the Ivory Trade

STE consistently participates in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to urge all international parties to unite in supporting ivory demand reduction and to initiate public awareness campaigns to reduce demand and stop the killing of elephants. In Kenya, STE also employs anti-poaching efforts to ensure that the gains made are long-lasting both for the elephants and for the communities that depend on the landscape they shape.

Icon Reducing Conflict

Elephants & Bees Project

The Elephants and Bees Project reduces damage from crop-raiding elephants on local farms by taking advantage of the elephants’ instinctive avoidance of African honey bees. The project installs Beehive Fences as a natural elephant deterrent, creating a social and economic boost to poverty-stricken rural communities through the sustainable harvesting of “Elephant-Friendly Honey.”

Icon Scientific Research

Real Time Monitoring

STE founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton was the first to track elephants using radio collars and STE remains at the forefront of tracking technology, providing near-instantaneous observation of elephants via their GPS location system. This real-time monitoring system is being applied to identify poaching events, with alerts issued via SMS and email to wildlife management and enforcement, allowing rapid response.

Icon Expanding Education

Elephant Scholarships

STE encourages students to become ambassadors of their environment by supporting their education and improving the infrastructure of local schools. Through scholarships, conservation education, internships, and resource support in schools within elephant rangelands, STE helps young people work towards their dreams and also preserve their natural heritage.

Icon Empowering Women

Basket Weaving

In Sagalla, Kenya, a group of vibrant female basket weavers gathered after seeing a need to form an enterprise group to raise additional income for their families and to stop dependence on income from subsistence farming. Basket weaving has not only served to increase their household’s income but also provides a comfortable social setting where the women can bond and share their experiences and challenges.

Icon Boosting Local Economies

Elephants & Bees Project

STE’s Elephants and Bees program has become globally recognized for its ability to reduce human-elephant conflict while providing alternative livelihoods for farmers. Though bees are most famous for their honey (and ability to scare off elephants), beeswax is also a great source for producing candles, lip balm, soap, and body creams that can be sold as a boost for farmers.

Icon Guiding Policy

CITES & Kenyan Law

During the peak of the elephant poaching crisis, Save the Elephants and members of the Kenya Elephant Forum sat down to draft a policy for the Kenyan President at the time, which eventually led to a new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill. The bill and STE’s continued international efforts at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have been instrumental in protecting elephants.

Impact by the Numbers

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million data positions collected from tracking collars deployed on more than 800 wild Asian and African elephants.

This data helps define key habitats and corridors, identify potential poaching incidents, and gain insight on elephant behavior.

240

Kenyan students in STE's scholarship program to date.

This program fosters academic talent, develops positive attitudes toward elephants, and creates wildlife ambassadors to help promote conservation.

$1,000 can keep one of STE’s bush planes in the air for nearly 3 hours conducting aerial patrols to check up on collared elephants and responding to alerts generated by STE’s elephant tracking system.

$3,000 will purchase an elephant monitoring collar, allowing STE to remotely monitor and protect individual elephants across Kenya.

A donation of any amount can build the capacity of STE’s Mobile Education Unit, which cultivates positive attitudes and behaviors amongst students toward wildlife.

STE Shares Updates From the Field

Hear Dr. Lydia Tiller and Dr. Lucy King Talk about the the human-elephant co-existence programs Save the Elephants runs in order to protect elephants and communities.

News & Stories

Severe Drought in Kenya Threatens Wildlife

Severe Drought in Kenya Threatens Wildlife

Kenya is on the brink of a fifth failed rainy season with a good chance that the country will continue... Learn More
Healing the Rift Between Elephants and People

Healing the Rift Between Elephants and People

Sarara is no stranger to the Save the Elephants staff in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. Since he was a teenager,... Learn More
Poachers Turned Wildlife Defenders in the DRC

Poachers Turned Wildlife Defenders in the DRC

In 1970, the Democratic Republic of Congo was home to nearly 300,000 forest elephants. Today there are perhaps fewer than... Learn More
The Hidden Elephants

The Hidden Elephants

The magnificent, intelligent, and highly endangered forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) made headlines in March this year when the International Union... Learn More
Giant Steps for Elephant Recovery

Giant Steps for Elephant Recovery

David Daballen squinted as he scanned for elephants moving across the landscape hundreds of feet below. The afternoon sun ushered... Learn More
2019: A Year in Photos

2019: A Year in Photos

Wildlife amazes us. Their resilience, natural athleticism, and ability to evoke many emotions within us are just a few of... Learn More
Protecting Wildlife: The Untapped Solution to the Climate Crisis

Protecting Wildlife: The Untapped Solution to the Climate Crisis

We’ve all seen the headlines: Climate change. Ocean acidification. Biodiversity loss. Mass species extinction. We know we are living through... Learn More
Beehive Fences to Deter Elephants and Honey Badgers

Beehive Fences to Deter Elephants and Honey Badgers

There’s no silver bullet to conservation. What works in one location may not work in another; or it may lose... Learn More
Making Samburu Safe for Elephants

Making Samburu Safe for Elephants

The Land Cruiser is parked at a discreet distance from the Ewaso Ng’iro River, where a herd of elephants is... Learn More
A Snapshot of the 2019 Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo

A Snapshot of the 2019 Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo

On Saturday, April 13th, we hosted the Spring Wildlife Conservation Expo, bringing together some of the world’s most pioneering conservationists... Learn More
Elephants and Bees and Me

Elephants and Bees and Me

Ndovu walikua hapa? – were there elephants here? It’s one of the questions we asked farmers again and again during... Learn More
Saluting Rangers Worldwide on World Ranger Day

Saluting Rangers Worldwide on World Ranger Day

Rangers, forest guards, warriors, scouts, field enforcement officers—the titles they serve under are many, but these brave women and men... Learn More
LOEWE Launches Limited Edition Bags with Knot On My Planet to Save Elephants

LOEWE Launches Limited Edition Bags with Knot On My Planet to Save Elephants

LOEWE and Knot On My Planet joins forces today to launch a limited edition collection of their iconic Elephant Mini Bag... Learn More
Vogue: Who Will Save the Elephants?

Vogue: Who Will Save the Elephants?

"To allow the extinction of the world’s largest and smartest and most sensitive land animal—a keystone species, meaning that when... Learn More
A Vet for Samburu

A Vet for Samburu

Elephants are powerfully strong and can be fierce with their impressive tusks, lions stalk and hunt with deadly precision, Grevy's... Learn More
Big Win for the War Against the Ivory Trade

Big Win for the War Against the Ivory Trade

As of Tuesday, two of the world's most notorious criminals—the Akasha brothers—and their cohorts have been extradited from Kenya to... Learn More
Catching Elephant Poachers

Catching Elephant Poachers

Prior to June of 2015, it had been two years since anti-poaching patrols last roamed the Ziama Forest in Guinea,... Learn More
China to Formally Shut Down All Domestic Ivory Trade by End of 2017

China to Formally Shut Down All Domestic Ivory Trade by End of 2017

Africa’s elephant population has dwindled from about 1.2 million 35 years ago to between 400,000 and 500,000 today—all because of... Learn More
China's Illegal Ivory Trade Escalating Out of Control

China's Illegal Ivory Trade Escalating Out of Control

The illegal ivory trade is exploding in China according to the results of the first detailed research on the markets of... Learn More
Counting Elephants in the Selous

Counting Elephants in the Selous

Over the last several years, horror stories have been mounting about the scale of the slaughter of elephants in Tanzania.... Learn More
Elephants Crossing

Elephants Crossing

It began with a prayer; a collective plea for safety and good luck. A group of conservationists from Save the... Learn More
Elephants Are Very Scared of Bees. That Could Save Their Lives.

Elephants Are Very Scared of Bees. That Could Save Their Lives.

The Elephants and Bees Project has proven extremely successful at protecting African elephants for more than a decade. Now a... Learn More
Elephants Never Forget. And We Will Not Forget Elephants.

Elephants Never Forget. And We Will Not Forget Elephants.

Elephant societies are complex. They are emotional. They are bound together by deep and lasting memories. That’s why we often... Learn More
First Elephant Spotted in Somalia in 20 Years

First Elephant Spotted in Somalia in 20 Years

It’s never too late to come home again. Morgan, a large bull elephant, made a giant step for his kind... Learn More
How Bees Save Elephants

How Bees Save Elephants

The interaction between humans and elephants in Africa is often fraught with tension. One particular source of conflict lies within... Learn More
Hungry People Cannot Care About Conservation: The First Beehive Fence in Niassa

Hungry People Cannot Care About Conservation: The First Beehive Fence in Niassa

Why would anyone want to build a fence filled with bees? Beehive fences, pioneered by WCN’s Save The Elephants (STE) project in... Learn More
Important Step Taken for Hong Kong Ivory Ban

Important Step Taken for Hong Kong Ivory Ban

A huge boon has been granted in the world’s efforts to save elephant populations as Hong Kong vowed to phase... Learn More
Ivory Destroyed in New York to Support Elephant Conservation

Ivory Destroyed in New York to Support Elephant Conservation

The best way to stop the poaching of elephants is to stop the demand for ivory. On June 19th, the... Learn More
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Donates $1 Million to Elephant Crisis Fund

Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Donates $1 Million to Elephant Crisis Fund

The Elephant Crisis Fund is thrilled to announce a $1 million grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Learn More
Justice for Elephants

Justice for Elephants

For years we have been fighting against an ivory crisis that has devastated Africa’s elephant population. Today that fight just... Learn More
Mali’s Desert Elephants, on Edge of Annihilation, Get a Fighting Chance - New York Times

Mali’s Desert Elephants, on Edge of Annihilation, Get a Fighting Chance - New York Times

Mali’s elephants, Africa’s northernmost herd and adapted to life in the country’s harsh desert, were in desperate need of protection. The... Learn More
New Protections Put in Place for the Embattled Elephants of Virunga National Park

New Protections Put in Place for the Embattled Elephants of Virunga National Park

In July, the Save the Elephants team flew to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo for an... Learn More
Poachers Were Responsible for the Deaths of 100,000 African Elephants in Only Three Years

Poachers Were Responsible for the Deaths of 100,000 African Elephants in Only Three Years

Earlier this summer, the world mourned the death of one of Africa’s largest tuskers, the great Satao. A poacher killed... Learn More
October 19th Fundraiser: The Art of Saving Elephants to Feature Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton and the African American Dance Ensemble

October 19th Fundraiser: The Art of Saving Elephants to Feature Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton and the African American Dance Ensemble

Following an introduction by NPR radio personality Eric Hodge, the charismatic Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, legendary African elephant authority, will be... Learn More
Price of Ivory in China Falls Sharply

Price of Ivory in China Falls Sharply

The price of illegal raw ivory in China has almost halved over the past 18 months, according to new research... Learn More
President Obama Announces New Restrictions on the US Ivory Trade

President Obama Announces New Restrictions on the US Ivory Trade

During his two-day visit to Kenya, President Obama announced major new restrictions that will establish a stronger ban on the... Learn More
Tiffany & Co. Partners with Doutzen Kroes and #KnotOnMyPlanet

Tiffany & Co. Partners with Doutzen Kroes and #KnotOnMyPlanet

New York: On September 9, Tiffany & Co. will once again join forces with Doutzen Kroes, Global Ambassador for the... Learn More
Sokotei the Orphaned Elephant Is Now Thriving

Sokotei the Orphaned Elephant Is Now Thriving

Just like humans, elephants form strong bonds between mother and child. Elephant calves rely entirely on their mother’s milk for... Learn More
US Government Crushes Seized Elephant Ivory

US Government Crushes Seized Elephant Ivory

Today, the United States government crushed nearly 6 tons of seized elephant ivory in a resounding message to the world... Learn More
A Year of Progress for the Elephant Crisis Fund

A Year of Progress for the Elephant Crisis Fund

One year into its existence, the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) has already made critical interventions in stopping the poaching, thwarting... Learn More
China Announces Commitment to Phase Out Ivory Trade

China Announces Commitment to Phase Out Ivory Trade

China’s policy toward ivory is a key element in determining the future of Africa’s elephants. Demand from China is a... Learn More
China Suspends Ivory Imports for One Year

China Suspends Ivory Imports for One Year

China has suspended the import of carved ivory products from Africa for one year, an encouraging step that we hope... Learn More
Defending Some of the World's Last Great Tuskers

Defending Some of the World's Last Great Tuskers

Of all the world’s elephants, the few remaining Great Tuskers are those that are most at risk from Africa’s current... Learn More
ECF Provides Emergency Support Following Poaching Attack in Garamba

ECF Provides Emergency Support Following Poaching Attack in Garamba

Last week we received the devastating news that intense gun battles with poachers in Garamba, one of the most important... Learn More
Elephant Crisis Fund: Protecting Forest Elephants In Ivindo

Elephant Crisis Fund: Protecting Forest Elephants In Ivindo

Gabon’s Ivindo National Park is a place filled with magic, with waterfalls roaring into pristine forests and some of the... Learn More
Saving the Elephants of Babile

Saving the Elephants of Babile

BY STEVEN BREND, BORN FREE ETHIOPIA Learn More
World Environment Day 2018

World Environment Day 2018

Today—on World Environment Day—we'd like to highlight some of the actions our Conservation Partners are taking to help create a... Learn More
Photography Credits: Frank af Petersens, Susan McConnell, Jon McCormack, Tom Stahl, Jane Wynyard/Save the Elephants, Wildlife Conservation Society
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