When the elephant packs her trunk...

Of the eight hundred elephants in Loisaba, many of them choose to stay resident. These tend to be relatively placid and allow our guests to come quite close to them as long as they stay quiet. Sometimes the elephants themselves choose to draw closer to the vehicles although the guide will always keep a close eye on them, observing their body language for any signs of tension. 

Other herds of elephant migrate, crossing areas where they are not so welcome and coming into conflict with the communities that live there. This tends to make them a lot more wary and then they keep their guard up, even when they are in the sanctuary of Loisaba. In 2018, with the aid of a charity called Space for Giants, Loisaba Conservancy became a vital corridor for the migrating elephants, and a hub for their conservation in North Kenya.

Space for Giants, which is based in Nanyuki, was founded in 2011 by Dr. Max Graham, a Cambridge Graduate who originally came from Dorset in the UK. By then, after two drastic surges in poaching, there were only 415,000 elephants remaining in the world but fortunately global efforts against poaching – including combatting the illegal ivory trade - are finally beginning to make a difference. Whilst elephants face an ongoing threat from the loss of habitat, Loisaba Conservancy is teeming with elephants which can be seen all across the plains, the valleys, and even making their way up the steepest hills.

Sanikata is one of the migratory elephants and one of a handful that have been fitted with a collar so that her movements can be monitored. Her tracker shows that although she stays in Loisaba for long periods of time, she also crosses the boundary into Sabuk, the conservancy next door, Lobarishereki and Parkare, which are closed areas.

Sanikata. Credit: Anne Powys

She is a very big female elephant, always to be found at the front of the herd, and she can be very intimidating, taking her role as heir apparent very seriously. She has a calf aged about two and a half years old, and lives in a herd of twelve individuals - an older matriarch of which she is thought to be the first daughter, six other females, two young males and three more elephants of unknown sex. We hope to be able to follow her movements in the future. 

Sub-adult male in Sanikata's herd
Credit: Anne Powys

The matriarch of Sanikata's herd.
Credit: Susan Lentaam

To find out more about the work of Space for Giants  click on this link.