500 Days Wild

This project is first of its kind as the orphans are being released into a Namunyak Conservancy, populated by the indigenous Samburu and 6,000 wild elephants. Namunyak is not a fenced national park. This an exciting step for conservation throughout Africa because it opens up vast new tracts of landscape for potential rewilding.

The elephants were orphaned and rescued here in this landscape, and now they're returning to the land. Elsewhere in Africa, wildlife is often released in a different landscape from where they were originally orphaned/born.

The collars will allow ongoing monitoring, research and data collection. Over the longer term, tracking data helps build knowledge of elephant behaviour. In an increasingly crowded Africa, this information is key to preserving habitat and the corridors that link areas used by both elephants and other wildlife.  The data collected will help inform decisions that could protect hundreds more elephants in the years to come.

Tracking the elephants was also a government wildlife department condition for their release. Save the Elephants and Kenya Wildlife Service have been using tracking collars to give a voice for elephants and to help protect them for several decades, and the conservation benefits of the data has had enormous benefits for elephant conservation efforts across Africa.

The elephant collars are especially helpful in monitoring:

Wellbeing
From being able to respond to injuries to notice any concerning behaviour in real-time, it will help us to track their safety and welfare around the clock.

Social integration
Providing us with real-time information on the engagements between the released elephants and wild elephant herds, the tracking data will enable us to see if they are integrating sufficiently and successfully to create the necessary bonds needed to reintegrate fully into the wild.

Feeding behaviours
It will be crucial for the elephants to maintain their body weight once they’re released, so we will be watching their feeding behaviours with very keen eyes! By tracking their preferences in terms of browsing areas and patterns, we will be able to see if they are making the most of the natural resources available to them in the wild.

Activity patterns
By continuously monitoring the activities of the rewilded elephant orphans, we can form a clear picture of their release milestones. This will help us to identify and address any issues early on – and inform our planning for future release projects.

Human interactions
Namunyak Community Conservancy has been home to both wildlife and the Samburu people for generations, and their harmonious relationship forms the foundation of the grassroots conservation movement at the heart of Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. As the release area is set within community-owned land, the elephants will encounter both people and their livestock during the course of their normal activities, and we will monitor these encounters as part of our ongoing observations and research.

GPS collars are the best option for Samburu elephants as they've been tried and tested over the years – thanks to the incredible work of Save the Elephants. A tremendous amount of research goes into the design of these collars and elephants get used to them very quickly. Think about how it feels when you put a necklace on in the morning – you even forget it’s there and sometimes you find yourself touching your neck to see if you still have it on. While the collars might look strange to the human eye, we can assure you it doesn’t bother them – they're not heavy.

Not at all! While it might look strange to the human eye, the weight of a collar on an elephant is the equivalent of a small pendant necklace around your neck. They're not heavy and fit comfortably loose. The collars work like a belt with different holes and they'll be adjusted as the elephants grow to remain loose and comfy.