The Amboseli Elephant Research Project, founded by Dr Cynthia Moss in 1972, is the longest-running study of wild elephants in the world. Researchers have identified over 1,500 individual elephants by their distinctive ear patterns and documented the full social lives of multiple generations.
Elephants in Amboseli live in complex matriarchal family units. The eldest female, the matriarch, leads her family to water and food sources based on decades of memory. When poaching removed matriarchs across Africa, entire family units collapsed without this knowledge.
Today, Amboseli's elephant population is recovering thanks to the research team, community conservancies and strict anti-poaching patrols. Visiting Amboseli directly supports this vital work.
