Majestic elephants poached for their ivory. Gentle giraffes killed for their meat and skins… Africa’s giant herbivores need our help more than ever.
Across Africa, elephants are slaughtered in their thousands every year. Close-knit families are decimated, leaving traumatised elephant friends, family and orphaned young.
Giraffes also suffer at the hands of people who value their skin and body parts over a beautiful, sentient, living animal. In the last 30 years, numbers have dropped by 40% in the wild. Beyond belief.
With your invaluable help, we can monitor, study and protect these fascinating species in Meru National Park, Kenya. We can identify individual families and mitigate the threats they face. We can work with local communities to increase awareness and resolve possible conflicts. We can train a team of local people to patrol Meru and remove snares. We can protect the savannah habitat and revive degraded areas.
Meru National Park has a special significance for Born Free – it’s where George and Joy Adamson taught Elsa the lioness how to be free!
Meru Conservation Area is home to around 1,000 elephants (with 500 in Meru National Park) and 1,400 rare, reticulated giraffes. Both elephants and giraffes play a vital ecological role by dispersing the seeds of the acacia tree – vital to prevent desertification.
Things have already begun to move in Meru. Since 2014, Born Free has helped Kenya Wildlife Service protect the park’s 80 or so lions, including Elsa’s descendants. The population is gradually increasing – not least five cubs born this year to Elsa’s Pride.
Our appeal to Save Africa’s Giants will expand on the vital work in taking place in Meru, and extend extra protection to elephants and giraffes living within the park.
DONATE NOW TO SAVE AFRICA’S GIANTS
Images © www.georgelogan.co.uk
"A fairy tale animal, as if from the land of fables."
- Joanna Lumley OBE, Born Free Founder Patron
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