Born Free has achieved some remarkable conservation results through its work with lions and rhino in the Meru Conservation Area since 2014. The charity has now launched a new conservation programme ‘Save Meru’s Giants’, which will focus on protecting highly threatened elephants and the reticulated giraffe in the area. The specialist elephant and giraffe team will work with the local community to mitigate human-wildlife conflict that is a particular threat to these species.
Activities will include building bee hive fences around farms as bees are proven to deter elephants. There will also be an education team that will run workshops on conservation, elephant behaviour and how to prevent conflict. Five elephant guardians, recruited from the local area, will work side by side their own communities and Born Free to increase awareness about conservation and help families peacefully coexist with wildlife.
There is a programme to ID elephants and giraffe in the area, something that hasn’t been recorded since the 1990’s. Whilst this is relatively straight forward for elephants it can be more challenging with giraffe. Born Free is also planning a de-snaring programme, which will cover the Meru Conservation Area. The Twiga Team (Twiga meaning giraffe in Swahili) have been recruited from local communities and are currently undergoing extensive training to prepare them for challenging conditions removing snares inside protected area. For more information and to support all the good work that Born Free are doing in the area please visit https://www.bornfree.org.uk/save-africas-giants