Kenya banned hunting in 1977 and built its wildlife economy on photographic tourism instead. The results are mixed and the mechanisms are worth understanding, because where you spend your money determines who benefits.
The last northern white rhinos
At Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the Laikipia plateau live Najin and Fatu, a mother and daughter and the only two northern white rhinos left alive. The last male, Sudan, died in 2018. Neither female can carry a pregnancy, so the subspecies survives only through an in-vitro programme using stored sperm and southern white surrogates; embryos have been created and the first transfer attempts have been made. Visitors can see them with a keeper.
Ol Pejeta and Lewa
Ol Pejeta also holds the largest black rhino population in East Africa, around 165 animals, and a chimpanzee sanctuary for animals rescued from the illegal trade — chimpanzees are not native to Kenya. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy nearby was converted from cattle ranch to conservancy in 1995, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and holds a significant share of the world Grevy zebra. Both operate as private conservancies with paying guests funding security and community programmes.
Community conservancies
The Northern Rangelands Trust supports more than forty community conservancies across northern and coastal Kenya, covering some 63,000 square kilometres. Communities lease land for wildlife, employ rangers from their own membership and receive tourism revenue and development funding. The model has reduced poaching substantially and has also drawn criticism over land rights and consultation, which is worth reading about rather than accepting uncritically.
Elephant orphans
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, founded by Daphne Sheldrick in 1977, pioneered a milk formula that allows infant elephants to survive without their mothers. Orphans are raised at the Nairobi nursery and then rehabilitated at Tsavo units over years until they rejoin wild herds. More than 300 have been returned to the wild, and released females have brought their own calves back to visit.
The ivory burns
Kenya burned 12 tonnes of ivory in 1989 and 105 tonnes in 2016, the largest destruction of stockpiled ivory ever staged, as a statement that the material has no legitimate value. The site at Nairobi National Park is marked and can be visited.
What visitors can do
Stay in conservancies rather than only in national reserves, ask what proportion of your fee reaches the community, do not buy any wildlife product, and refuse operators that offer close contact with wild animals or captive predator interactions.