Samburu National Reserve is a protected area in Northern Kenya, about 6 hours drive from the capital Nairobi. The topography in the reserve ranges from lush riverine forests to dry open savannah to rugged mountains. The Ewaso Nyiro River runs along the Southern boundary of the reserve and is the lifeblood of this area, providing water for people, plants and animals.

Samburu is a high density area for wildlife, with its hot, dry savannah landscape, rugged terrain and nearby river. February and March are the hottest months followed by two rainy seasons during the year. The arid landscape is dotted with dune palm groves, and in the distance you can see the outlines of the Koitogor and Ololokwe mountains.

Visitors come to Samburu to see elephants as well as leopards, lions, giraffes and over 450 species of birds. Unique to this area, Grevy’s zebras are identifiable by their thin stripes, large, round ears and big bodies. On a game drive you might see Somali ostrich, nile crocodiles and large herds of oryx, all of which are desert adapted and prefer hot environments like this one. Explore this place.

Samburu is famous for having one of the best-studied elephant populations in the world. Due to the 20 year legacy of research, local elephants are very trusting and will come right up to vehicles, especially a Save the Elephants research truck. Elephants have exceptional spatial memories and understand the boundaries of the Samburu Reserve, exhibiting noticeably calmer behavior when they are in the protected environment. Explore this place.

Elephants play an important role as landscape engineers in this environment. They help with seed dispersal by eating fruit from trees and then spreading seeds through their dung. Elephants tear the bark off trees, braking down vegetation and causing necessary regrowth and a deeper seed base. In times of drought, they dig holes to find water that are then used by other animals. Elephants have a profound impact on the landscape.

Founded in 1993, Save the Elephants is dedicated to securing a future for elephants and sustaining the ecological integrity of the places they live. Headquartered in Nairobi, STE works across Africa to understand and protect elephants. Their main research camp is in Samburu where they monitor elephants on the ground, in the air and via GPS tracking. They focus on research as the baseline from which to make planning and policymaking decisions and work to improve the relationship between humans and elephants. Explore this place.

In the 1960s a biologist named Iain Douglas-Hamilton began the first behavioural research of wild elephants in Tanzania, using a light aircraft to track and count them. In 1993 he established Save the Elephants, and soon chose the uniquely tame and trusting elephants of Samburu as the subject for a new long-term elephant study. The research conducted in Samburu raises global awareness of the threats to elephants and creates solutions to secure a future for the species.

Not only does Save the Elephants conduct aerial surveys, they also monitor individual elephants using GPS collars. By quickly sedating an elephant, veterinarians place a collar around their neck to track the location of the elephant. This data helps researchers understand how these animals move through the landscape, as well as follow the lives of specific elephants. By analyzing GPS data, Save the Elephants is also able to receive automatic immobility alerts when an elephant has stopped moving. STE has collared 266 elephants across Africa to date.

Save the Elephants was collecting large amounts of data from the GPS collars of elephants, but they needed a way to visualize it. In 2006 they started overlaying their collaring data on the rich digital landscape of Google Earth, allowing for better tracking of elephants' movements. They are now using the computing power of Google Earth Engine to analyze more than five million recorded locations taken from 266 elephants over 17 years.

Elephants travel across the landscape and often encounter roads, houses, farms and people. Human-elephant conflict is a serious issue in the protection of elephants, and one way to keep elephants safe is to provide them safe passage. Inspired by elephant tracking data, this underpass was built to allow elephants to safely navigate under this busy highway. Explore this place.

Poaching is the most serious threat to the survival of Africa's elephants. Elephants are killed for the ivory in their tusks, which is then sold around the world. The killing of older elephants has a devastating effect on family structures and leaves many baby elephants orphaned. Combatting poaching not only requires strict penalties to deter poachers, but a reduction in the consumer demand for ivory products.

The death of an elephant is a cultural loss for the Samburu people. Poaching introduces instability into the lives of those who live alongside elephants, as illegal operatives roam the landscape hunting for ivory. The Northern Rangelands Trust is engaging local people in conservation, converting land into conservancies and creating economic opportunities through tourism, further demonstrating the value of elephants in Samburu.

These rangers are on the front lines of the war against poaching, risking their lives to defend Kenya’s elephants. They receive tips from local people and organizations and then comb the landscape with trained dogs in search of illegal activity. The award-winning work of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service has helped reduce the number of poached elephants in Northern Kenya down to less than 1% of the overall population, a huge victory in the uphill battle to defend elephants.

When an elephant is poached, what happens to its children? Founded in 1977, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust provides assistance to animals in need, including orphans. At their elephant orphanage in Nairobi, keepers feed and exercise the elephants and make sure they’re properly socialized into the orphan herd. This type of care is critical to raising healthy elephants that can be reintroduced into the wild. The Sheldrick Trust has hand-raised over 180 infant elephants. Explore this place.

In 2012 STE first asked to bring the Street View Trekker to Samburu to capture 360-degree panoramic imagery of elephants in the wild. While not everyone can visit Samburu, anyone can go on an online safari to meet these elephants. By putting elephants at people’s fingertips online, researchers and advocates hope that people will become more connected to elephants and more excited to get involved in securing their future.