My name is Ole Katato, a Maasai elder in Kenya. On June 22nd, 2022, my wife heard some movements outside our house at night and she woke me up. We were very frightened and could not go outside the house. In the morning, we realized that elephants entered our home and let our cattle and donkeys out. I followed the footprints and found them in the bush. A devastating drought forced elephants out of Amboseli national park in our village looking for water and food. Villagers called each other and everyone was giving their version of the story about elephants. Some villagers say they kill people, others say the destroy boreholes and water pans; elephant eyes are magnetic and you cannot run away when they look at you, their loud frightening sounds stops the body organs from functioning,, they are faster than a car so you cannot outrun them. There was fear, panic and confusion in the village because many people have never seen elephants in their lives. Children going to school or grazing cattle in the bush, women collecting firewood or going to fetch water; you won’t say they are back home until you see them. We have struggled with the elephants for over one year now and they are now coming to borehole during the day and this is where the conflict started. Villagers resist the elephants by blowing whistles, bells and banging metal and lighting fires around the boreholes to scare them away. However, elephants get used to these tricks and they just walk into boreholes during the day. Seven people have been injured and two died, while two elephants also died in the conflict in my village in the last five months. We need an urgent solution to stop the killings and deaths before it turns to a bloodbath. I provide diesel to the community borehole to pump water for villagers and elephants to reduce the conflict but we can do more to promote peaceful co-existence by providing enough water for villagers and elephants in different points to separate them.

We need your support to provide more diesel at the borehole, build new elephant troughs to separate villagers and elephants, elephant-proof fence around the community borehole to keep elephants away and new generator and solar pump.

SUPPPORT OUR VILLAGE TO MANAGE THE ELEPHANTS AND LIVE PEACEFULLY TOGETHER

Donate; https://mercytreefoundation.org/our-causes/partner...and make sure to select Across Maasai Land Initiative

For more information visit our website www.acrossmaasailand.org

YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@AcrossMaasailand-ek7ti

SIGN THE PETITION

TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND KENYA GOVERNMENT

We, citizens of the world support the peace between the Maasai and elephants to create new habitats for elephants, provide enough water resources for villagers and elephants and indigenous knowledge to the younger generation to promote peaceful co-existence between the Maasai and elephants. We urge you to recognize the peace declaration day formally and set up a fund to create an elephant economy to generate alternative income from elephant conservation.