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Kiambi’s last journey: tracking an aging elephant in the Mara

Posted on 4 September 2025

Meet Kiambi, the senior bachelor

Kiambi is one of the GPS-collared elephants in the Greater Maasai Mara, monitored by WWF-Kenya in partnership with the Wildlife Research Training Institute (WRTI) and the Mara Elephant Project. Now in his early 50s, Kiambi is entering the twilight of his life.

Signs of ageing

Kiambi was last spotted in the community land adjacent to Olkinyei Conservancy. His GPS collar shows shorter and slower movements, often gravitating toward human-settled areas during the day for safety, and retreating to wetlands by evening. Elephants go through six sets of molars in their lifetime, a process called polyphyodonty.

Once the final set wears out, they can longer chew effectively, often leading to death. Kiambi’s preference for soft, fresh forage in wetland areas suggests he may be losing his last set of teeth. While his tusks continue to grow, his molars are now irreplaceable.

Wounds and conflict

During our August 2025 monitoring, Kiambi appeared to be healing from a spear wound near his right front leg. The injury was small, with white pus but no swelling, indicating natural healing. Unfortunately, human-wildlife conflicts are on the rise in the Mara. Kenya Wildlife Service teams in the Mara have reported increased elephant spearing, especially in Transmara.

This spike coincides with the great wildebeest migration and expanding crop farming near wildlife corridors. A tragic incident in Mara East, where a child was trampled, led to elephants being pushed toward Mosiro in Kajiado County.

This sparsely populated area, stretching to the Nguruman Escarpment, is a dispersal area and fallback habitat. The Ewaso Nyiro River and riparian vegetation could provide vital forage during dry spells.

Kiambi’s companions

Kiambi is a lone ranger who is always confident, friendly and calm when approached on foot or by vehicle. During monitoring, we found Polaris, our largest collared tusker, just 6km away. Energetic and adventurous, Polaris is often spotted in the company of Kiambi and occasionally stays with him.

Unlike Polaris, Kiambi appeared emaciated, his habitat increasingly squeezed by electric fences. Both bulls were lone. However, the previous quarter, Kiambi was seen in a herd of 13 elephants, including juveniles and sub-adults. While tracking Polaris, we also encountered a lion spoor near manyattas, suggesting possible attempt to livestock predation.

Protecting people and elephants

Over 60% of Kenya's wildlife livess on community and privately-owned lands. WWF-Kenya and partners work to reduce human-wildlife conflict and promote coexistence by supporting communities that share their land with wildlife. These lands form vital dispersal areas and wildlife corridors connecting protected areas like the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, and Tsavo. There is a need to ensure continuous protection and securing of wildlife corridors for these flagship species.

Thanks to support from WWF-UK, WWF-Sweden, WWF-Germany, and corporate partners like Sankara Nairobi who contribute $1 per guest per night-these efforts continue to make a difference.

Give the Gift of Hope

ou can help protect elephants like Kiambi. In 2024, we launched the Give a Gift of Hope campaign to prevent human-elephant conflict. Your donation supports proven solutions that safeguard communities, protect elephants, and preserve shared habitats. 👉 Donate now to give the gift of coexistence:https://donate.wwfkenya.org/donations/prevent-human-wildlife-conflict/

This story was compiled by Evans Sitati, Daisy Kemboi and Chris Kirimi.

Edited & published by Joel Muinde.

Kiambi the senior collared African elephant. The Maasai Mara is his home.

Kiambi is one of the GPS-collared elephants in the Greater Maasai Mara. Now in his early 50s, Kiambi is entering the twilight of his life.