About the Wildlife Ranger Challenge: 

COVID-19 has brought tourism revenue to a halt across Africa, threatening the important work and livelihoods of the rangers who protect iconic African wildlife such as elephants, pangolins, rhinos, lions, and more. Ranger teams are now uniting around the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, a running race with one goal: to raise money to support thousands of their fellow rangers. Now is the time to go the extra mile—it’s time to race to support our rangers. Every dollar donated will be matched by the Scheinberg Relief Fund, doubling your generous contribution.

Your contribution will help support 158 rangers and an estimated 632 livelihoods in and around the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

The role of rangers:

The Lewa-Borana Landscape is home to 13% of Kenya’s rhino population, 13% of the world’s Grevy’s zebra, as well as reticulated giraffes and thriving populations of elephants, lions, hyenas, ungulates, primates, and reptiles. Rangers perform a variety of activities related to safeguarding these vulnerable animals and their ecosystems, including monitoring wildlife, managing human-wildlife conflict, maintaining fences, and responding to poaching incidents. Rangers also use aerial surveillance and GPS technology to track movements and patrol remote areas.

How your donation will help:

Ensuring robust security operations to deter threats is Lewa Kenya’s number one priority. The challenges foreseen for local communities due to the loss of tourism and agricultural jobs has led to instability and increased poaching pressure. Therefore, it is vital that Lewa’s Security and Anti-Poaching Program is able to operate at full strength in order to safeguard the critically endangered black rhino, along with a myriad of other threatened and vulnerable wildlife on the 94,000-acre Lewa Borana Landscape and with partners throughout Kenya.

Effects of the pandemic:

The pandemic has halted tourism to Kenya, resulting in a massive loss of funds for conservancies that typically used this earned revenue to support security, conservation and community program operations. Lewa anticipates at least a $2.1m loss in revenue in 2020 from a halt in tourism, cancellation of key fundraising events, and declines in charitable giving and has significantly scaled back operating costs and some programmes in spring 2020 to weather this crisis. 

Lewa Kenya took decisive, difficult steps in response and reduced operating costs by 70% to activities deemed critical at this time. Salary cuts across the organisation have been a necessary measure in surviving the crisis. Depending on pay grade, ranger salaries have been reduced by between 30% and 60%. As part of cost cutting measures, aerial surveillance has reduced by about 50 % and vehicle patrols have reduced by about 60%. To maintain essential security levels, rangers must cover the same ground on foot which has resulted in more physically punishing work for a team that has been reduced in size by 10%.

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Tusk is registered with JustGiving in the UK (or GoFundMe.com in the USA). Our online fundraising sites allow you to create a sponsorship form with easy access for your supporters, knowing their money is going directly to Tusk. UK tax-paying donors can enhance their contribution by agreeing to Gift Aid their sponsorship (for every £10 you raise, Tusk will receive another £2.50 from the Government provided you are a UK taxpayer). US supporters wishing to make a tax deductible donation can do so via GoFundMe.com.