An African elephant is pictured in southern Amboseli in Kajiado County, Kenya, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xie Jianfei)

NNA News - As wildlife migration reaches one of its busiest periods in East Africa, Kenya is confronting a challenge that extends beyond attracting tourists to its famous national parks: finding ways for elephants and communities to share the same landscape safely.

Across Amboseli, Maasai Mara and Tsavo, safari vehicles are carrying visitors hoping to see lions, rhinos, cheetahs and African elephants. But for communities living around Kenya's protected areas, elephants are part of everyday life and can sometimes create serious challenges. Ahead of World Elephant Day on Aug. 12, communities surrounding Amboseli National Park in Kajiado County are highlighting the complicated relationship between wildlife conservation and livelihoods.

Tourists take a hot air balloon ride at Amboseli National Park in Kajiado County, Kenya, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xie Jianfei)

For Maasai communities, elephants can enter farms, trample crops, disturb livestock and, in some cases, injure people. “Our work is not to drive elephants away, but to make sure both people and elephants are safe,” said Purity Lakara, a Maasai ranger. When elephants are reported near villages or farmland, rangers respond by advising residents to keep their distance and using non-lethal methods to guide the animals away.

The approach reflects a broader shift in conservation, where protecting wildlife is increasingly linked to improving the lives of communities living alongside it. Some conservation programmes around Amboseli have helped communities gain access to water and other basic services while involving residents in wildlife monitoring, early warning systems and protection efforts.

For Maasai resident Daniel Mulandi, attitudes towards elephants have changed over time. “Years ago, most Maasai people did not like elephants,” Mulandi said. Today, he keeps photographs of elephants on his phone and recently spent the final night with Craig, one of Amboseli's famous “super tuskers”, which died of natural causes at the age of 54. For Mulandi, elephants have gradually shifted from being a source of conflict to becoming part of the community's natural heritage. That change has taken place against the backdrop of a long history of elephant poaching.

A Maasai village is pictured in southern Amboseli in Kajiado County, Kenya, July 22, 2026. (Xie Jianfei)

During the 1970s and 1980s, African elephants faced a severe poaching crisis driven by demand for ivory, causing populations to decline sharply across the continent. In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora imposed an international ban on commercial ivory trade. Conservation efforts have since helped reduce poaching in some areas, while some savanna elephant populations in southern Africa have stabilised or begun a slow recovery.

However, challenges remain. Habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and illegal killing continue to threaten elephant populations, while the latest assessment cited in the report lists the African forest elephant as critically endangered. In Kenya, stronger anti-poaching measures, habitat protection, international cooperation and community participation have contributed to conservation gains.

Evan Mwavua Mkala, programs manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said elephants were also important to the resilience of ecosystems. “Ecosystems need elephants, and elephants are also important to building resilience to climate change,” Mkala said. According to Mkala, Kenya's elephant population has increased from about 16,000 in 1990 to around 42,000 today, reflecting the combined impact of stronger laws and enforcement, as well as community-centred conservation.

A Maasai ranger talks to a local resident in southern Amboseli in Kajiado County, Kenya, July 22, 2026. (Xie Jianfei)

The challenges facing elephants are also visible at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Nursery, where orphaned elephants are cared for after losing their mothers to poaching, human-wildlife conflict, drought and other causes. The young elephants are fed milk and cared for by keepers while gradually developing the skills needed to survive in the wild. The objective is ultimately to return them to their natural environment rather than keep them in captivity. Kenya's experience also reflects a wider lesson in wildlife conservation, including developments in southwest China.

In 2020 and 2021, a herd of Asian elephants travelled more than 1,300 kilometres northward from their traditional habitat in Yunnan Province. Authorities used monitoring and early warning systems and managed human activity along the elephants' route to reduce risks to both communities and wildlife.

The herd eventually turned south towards suitable habitat. The experience demonstrated that wildlife protection does not necessarily require people and animals to be completely separated. Instead, conservation can involve developing systems that allow communities and wildlife to share landscapes safely. For Kenya, that balance is becoming increasingly important as elephant populations recover in some areas and tourism continues to depend on the country's wildlife.

An African elephant is pictured in southern Amboseli in Kajiado County, Kenya, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xie Jianfei)

Human-elephant conflict, habitat protection, community livelihoods and tourism are therefore increasingly interconnected. The challenge is ultimately practical: creating landscapes where elephants can move freely without the threat of guns, traps or poisoned arrows, while ensuring that communities can farm, raise livestock and live safely.

For conservationists and communities around Amboseli, coexistence is not about keeping people and wildlife apart. It is about finding sustainable ways for both to remain part of the same landscape.