ATE recently launched a program to enable friends and supporters to follow the Amboseli families along with us. We've called it Elatia, which means 'neighbour' in Maa (the language of the Maasai people). By joining the project you become a neighbour to an elephant family, sharing the ups and downs that constitute elephant family life.

Joining Elatia requires a donation of only US$30 per year for each family. Your contribution helps fund ATE's on-the-ground expenses. As an Elatia member, you will benefit from exclusive information about your family, including:

An update about your elephant family every 2 months, including news of births, deaths, pregnancies, and any social dramas
Photographs of your family
Periodic short films about the family, so you get to see them in action!
A family tree, showing every elephant we have known in that family since 1972

Abra & Amber of the AAs: one of the families you can follow

Elatia members get a user name and password, making this information exclusively for those who join. The Elatia Project is completely digital, so all updates are sent via email.

To join Elatia or to give a gift for someone else, go to This Link.. If you have any problems, Tal has just made a tutorial for signing up, Click Here.

Name a Baby Elephant

* * Special Holiday Offer * *

Our special holiday offer to name an Amboseli calf lasts until the end of January.

ATE's naming program is not like an adoption program where thousands of people might adopt the same whale or whatever. This calf becomes "your calf" and yours alone. The name remains in the Amboseli database for all time even after the individual may have died.

With your donation you receive photographs and a history of your calf and its family. You will get periodic updates and be able to follow this calf's life over many years.

Take advantage of this offer and write to us by clicking here.

iGive

One of the ways you can support ATE is by making your online purchases through iGive. If you sign up the Amboseli Trust for Elephants as your recipient organization we will get a small percentage of the sale. Connect with iGive.com.

Give a Gift that Lasts Forever

Designate the Amboseli Trust for Elephants as a beneficiary of your will, individual retirement account, or life insurance policy. Your legacy gift will enable ATE to learn more about the fascinating and complex lives of elephants and to assure their future.

To learn more about planned giving opportunities, please contact Betsy Swart at: info@elephanttrust.org; tel +1-508-783-8308.

Newsletter Sign Up

To sign up a friend for our newsletter, please click This Link.

News from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants

November-December 2014

We're coming to the end of another year. I'm happy to report that 2014 has been an average, almost uneventful year for ATE. I just added up the rainfall and it was what Amboseli normally gets for in a calendar year--324 mm (or 12.7 inches). That's not much, but we live in a semi-arid region in the rain shadow of Kilimanjaro and it is only in the odd El Nino year that we get more than that. However, it was enough to bring up fresh new vegetation for the wildlife. The elephants are doing well and that's what is important to us.

The "almost uneventful" means that it was a quiet year. There was little poaching and spearing of elephants, no community or political crises in the Amboseli area, and no organizational problems. Our donors have been generous, and although we never seem to raise as much as we would like, we have enough to go on for another year. I want to thank all of you for your support for our work and for the Amboseli elephants.

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Peaceful New Year,

Cynthia Moss

Director

Amboseli Trust for Elephants

Maasai Olympics

Once again ATE was one of the sponsors for the wonderful Maasai Olympics held in the Amboseli ecosystem. This sports event, first held in 2012, is the brainchild of the menye layiok ("father of the warriors"), who are elders and cultural teachers. There are some 4000 warriors in the area and the future of their community and the wildlife depends on them. The elders have stated that the killing of wildlife, particularly lions, is no longer culturally acceptable.

The spectators are as intense as the javelin thrower

Traditionally, young warriors proved their bravery by killing large, dangerous animals. If they succeeded songs were song honouring them. The Maasai games are an excellent alternative way to gain that kind of respect.

Singing for those who run, not for those who kill...

ATE attended the Olympics in full force with 10 people. We all enjoyed the day tremendously. The skill of the participants was impressive and the

enthusiasm of the spectators was contagious.

Women's 1,500m

Teams from four group ranches participated in six track and field events, plus the amazing jumping contest in which warriors compete to jump the highest. Jumping straight up is one of the traditional ways to show prowess at weddings and other celebrations. For the track events, the winner of the 800 meters and 1500 meters races are trained and then run in the New York Marathon with all expenses paid. The group ranch with the highest number of points wins a gorgeous breeding bull. All others who place receive cash awards.

Visit our Website

Mothers and Calves

Everyone visiting Amboseli these days is struck by the number of calves in each family. Two years after the terrible drought of 2009 ended an unprecedented baby boom began. Forty-six calves were born at the end of 2011, 198 in 2012, 50 in 2013 and 72 to date in 2014. The survivorship for all these calves has been very high with the result that there are 351 mothers with calves three years old and younger in the Amboseli population.

In honor of Christmas and the theme of the mother and child, we present our
12 favorite photos of the Amboseli mothers and their calves.

Watch our films on YouTube

Please consider giving a year-end donation to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. We rely on individuals to keep the project going and therefore your support means so much to us.

Cynthia Moss

Amboseli Trust for Elephants