It is high season in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, one of the most famous game reserves in the world. With majestic Mount Kilimanjaro in the background, tourists in safari Land Cruisers watch two lions hiding in the grass as a dozen elephants march in line towards a swamp.
Kenya has some of the richest wildlife and most spectacular scenery on the planet. It has played host to exceptional scientific research. A five-decade study in Amboseli starting in the early 1970s revealed much of what we know about elephants. Researchers discovered how they interact within matriarchal families, mourn their dead, hold a grudge and communicate using hundreds of gestures and low-frequency rumbles, including names for each individual.
But to the Maasai communities and local politicians in Kajiado county, where Amboseli is located, the park and its world-famous elephants are also a financial asset, attracting millions in tourist dollars each year. Now they want it back.