ABOUT
At over 40,000 square kilometres, of which 22,000 square kilometres is formally protected, the Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) is among Kenya’s flagship areas for wildlife and wilderness. It is home to the “Big Five”, roughly 40% of Kenya’s total elephant population, 18% of its black rhino population, and many other high value species.
Tsavo Trust was founded in December 2012 with the aim of being the anchor for long-term conservation efforts in this important ecosystem.
We play this niche role in the TCA through support and partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), key communities, and other stakeholders in the ecosystem.
We initially focused on protecting the small gene pool of Big Tusker elephants and their existing and viable breeding grounds in the TCA. Big Tuskers are extraordinary African elephants that carry ivory tusks weighing 50 kilograms or more on each side, and which are often long enough to reach the ground. For a long time, these elephants were thought to have been exterminated from the Tsavo landscape. However, after sightings of a handful of Big Tuskers in the early 2010’s, significant aerial monitoring surveillance and extensive ground patrols revealed that 14 similar individuals existed in the ecosystem at that time. This was arguably approximately 50% of Big Tuskers left on the continent.
Our work has since then expanded rapidly to include other conservation programmes, including community conservation activities and providing support to KWS on protected area management and wildlife security operations. This growth in programmes was informed by a deeper understanding of the conservation challenges in the ecosystem, coupled with increasing demand for our support by KWS, communities, and other conservation partners in the area.
Tsavo Trust is headquartered in the Kamungi Conservancy, which borders the Tsavo West National Park. We are a team of professionals from the conservation and wildlife management sector in Kenya and have an excellent understanding of the challenges that the TCA faces.
