Save the Elephants

Save the Elephants (STE) is a research and conservation organization established in 1993 by elephant scientist Iain Douglas-Hamilton. Although its principal headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, the organization is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and operates through conservation, research, education, advocacy, and funding partnerships across Africa and Asia. Its work is centered on the long-term survival of elephants, the protection of their habitats, and the development of more tolerant relationships between people and elephants. A defining feature of STE is its emphasis on sustained scientific observation. The organization operates a principal research station in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya, where it has built one of the world's most extensive long-term records of a wild elephant population. Researchers have followed the lives, family relationships, movements, and behavior of almost 1,000 individually identified elephants over several decades. This continuity enables the organization to study population dynamics and social behavior in unusual detail, while also assessing how drought, habitat pressure, human activity, and poaching affect elephants over time. STE combines field research with practical conservation. Radio and GPS tracking are used to monitor elephant movements and provide information relevant to anti-poaching operations, landscape planning, and the management of habitats and corridors. Movement data can help conservation authorities and communities understand where elephants travel, identify areas of conflict or vulnerability, and plan land use in ways that maintain connectivity between habitats. The organization's research has also contributed to broader understanding of the effects of the ivory-poaching crisis on elephant populations across Africa. The organization works beyond its own research sites through partnerships, public education, and support for other conservation groups. In 2013, STE launched the Elephant Crisis Fund jointly with the Wildlife Conservation Network. The fund was created to support organizations working to reduce elephant poaching and disrupt the trafficking of ivory. According to the organization, the fund has supported 104 partners and 415 projects in 44 countries across Africa and Asia, with all funds raised directed to field projects. These activities give STE a role not only as a field researcher and conservation operator, but also as a coordinator and funder within the international elephant-conservation movement. STE's public identity combines scientific credibility, direct field protection, and concern for the ecological and cultural value of elephants. It presents elephants as intelligent, socially complex animals whose survival is connected to the integrity of the landscapes they occupy. The organization's work therefore extends from individual-animal research to national and international conservation policy. Its current model remains centered on evidence-based conservation, technology-supported monitoring, habitat protection, anti-poaching support, and collaboration with organizations and communities working to secure viable elephant populations.

Save the Elephants was founded in 1993 by Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a leading elephant researcher whose work helped establish the importance of studying elephants as socially complex, wide-ranging animals. From its formation, the organization combined scientific research with direct conservation objectives. Its central purpose was not simply to increase elephant numbers, but to secure a durable future for elephants while preserving the ecological integrity and natural beauty of the places where they live. The organization's principal field base developed in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya. Through repeated observation and individual identification, STE created a long-term research program documenting the lives and relationships of nearly 1,000 elephants. The resulting records cover family structures, behavior, movements, population changes, and interactions with environmental pressures. The continuity of this work has made the Samburu population one of the best-studied elephant populations in the world and has allowed researchers to compare conditions across many years rather than relying only on short surveys. The long-term Samburu research became especially important during the modern ivory-poaching crisis. By comparing demographic and behavioral information over time and relating local findings to wider African trends, STE contributed to understanding how poaching affects elephant populations. The organization also expanded its use of radio and GPS technology. Tracking data provides near-real-time information about elephant movements and can support protection efforts, while longer-term movement records help inform decisions about habitat use, corridors, and landscape planning. STE's work developed into a broader conservation model combining research, field protection, education, advocacy, and cooperation with other organizations. Rather than limiting its activities to Samburu, it used its scientific and operational experience to support conservation efforts in other regions. This outward-facing role became particularly visible in 2013, when STE and the Wildlife Conservation Network launched the Elephant Crisis Fund. The fund was designed to direct resources to organizations tackling elephant poaching and the international trafficking of ivory. According to STE, the Elephant Crisis Fund has supported 104 partners and 415 projects in 44 countries across Africa and Asia, and all money raised has been directed to field projects. Through this mechanism, the organization became both a direct conservation actor and a grant-making partner within a larger international response to the elephant crisis. Today, Save the Elephants remains associated with evidence-based elephant conservation. Its work links individual-animal research with population science, technological monitoring, habitat planning, anti-poaching initiatives, and public engagement. The organization also frames elephant conservation as a human-wildlife relationship issue: protecting elephants requires maintaining viable landscapes and developing forms of coexistence that recognize both human needs and the intelligence, social organization, and ecological importance of elephants.

• 2013

  Elephant Crisis Fund is launched

  [1]Save the Elephantsen.wikipedia.org

  Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network created the Elephant Crisis Fund to support field organizations addressing elephant poaching and ivory trafficking.

• 1993

  Save the Elephants is founded

  [1]Save the Elephantsen.wikipedia.org

  Iain Douglas-Hamilton founded Save the Elephants as a research and conservation organization dedicated to elephant survival and habitat protection.

A science-led elephant conservation organization that connects long-term field research, technology-enabled monitoring, habitat protection, anti-poaching support, and international conservation partnerships.

• Research program · 1993

  Samburu Elephant Research Program

  A long-running field research program based at Save the Elephants' principal research station in Samburu National Reserve, northern Kenya. Researchers maintain detailed records of individually identified elephants, including their behavior, family relationships, movements, and population changes. The program provides evidence for understanding elephant societies and the effects of drought, habitat pressure, and poaching.

• Conservation technology

  Elephant Tracking and Monitoring

  Save the Elephants uses radio and GPS tracking to gather information about elephant movements. The resulting data can assist field protection and anti-poaching work, while longer-term movement records support habitat management, corridor planning, and decisions about how landscapes should be shared by elephants and people.

• Conservation funding program · 2013

  Elephant Crisis Fund

  A joint initiative of Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network that provides support to conservation organizations working to reduce elephant poaching and ivory trafficking. The fund operates internationally across Africa and Asia through partner organizations and field projects.

• 2013Elephant Crisis Fund

  Africa · Asia · International

  Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network established a funding and partnership platform for organizations confronting elephant poaching and the trafficking of ivory.

  Outcome. According to Save the Elephants, the fund has supported 104 partners and 415 projects in 44 countries across Africa and Asia.

  Source

• 2013

  Expand from direct research into international conservation fundingStrategy

  Background

  The ivory-poaching crisis required coordinated action beyond the organization's core research activities in Kenya.

  Action taken

  Save the Elephants partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Network to launch the Elephant Crisis Fund, supporting organizations addressing poaching and ivory trafficking.

  Aftermath

  The fund developed into an international mechanism supporting conservation partners and field projects across Africa and Asia.

  Source

• 2013

  Save the Elephants launches the Elephant Crisis Fund[1]Save the Elephantsen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Other

  Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network established the Elephant Crisis Fund to support field organizations working to reduce elephant poaching and ivory trafficking.

1. 1Save the Elephantsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Save the Elephants official websitesavetheelephants.org