Reteti Elephant Sanctuary

Reteti is a sanctuary in Namunyak Conservancy, northern Kenya, owned and run by the indigenous, Samburu community. Designed to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned elephant calves, Reteti represents communities standing up for wildlife. 

For the first time in Africa, local communities are taking care of the elephants. In the wild, an elephant is a huge threat to someone on foot, yet the Samburu have an extraordinary relationship with elephants which has existed for generations.

“When I step from the land of the Samburu even my bones sense I am not in my land.  So imagine an elephant is taken away from its home. We take care of the elephants and the elephants take care of us” - Keeper, Rimland Lemojong

Community-based conservation is likely to be the only viable alternative for the vast land tracts in Kenya, where big animals and nomadic pastoralists co-exist. Reteti is in the process of tipping conservation on its head, protecting wildlife for, and not just from, people.