Wildlife protection comes in all shapes and sizes.

This is especially true of Big Life’s Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU). Although the team comprises only a single vehicle and nine rangers, they are highly trained and armed, in case of encounters with armed poachers. The team is nimble by design and able to react quickly – day or night – to poaching and other high-risk incidents across the ecosystem.

While the RDU is primarily focused on elephant protection, they are also called to intervene during a myriad of situations.

Over the last several months, the RDU has been busy. They have recovered elephant ivory, found and destroyed 19 snares targeting wild animals of various sizes, arrested suspects for bushmeat poaching and habitat destruction, mitigated elephant-human conflict by helping to steer hungry elephants away from farms and communities, and helped in the rescue of a gazelle suffering from multiple bite wounds, which was later released into Kimana Sanctuary.

There is no debate. The RDU’s impact is larger than life. We’re grateful to our supporters and partners, including La Passerelle Conservation and Parc Animalier d’Auvergne, for keeping our RDU in the field.

Photo: Jeremy Goss