Kenya's Amboseli National Park is home to more than 1700 African elephants who have been studiously observed, catalogued, and protected by the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) since 1972, when internationally-renowned researcher Cynthia Moss founded the project.

Over the last 30 years, Cynthia and her research assistants have identified and named every elephant in the park, following and recording each individual's social behavior, reproductive history, feeding habits, and communication with the herd. Because AERP is the longest-running elephant study in history, the base of information collected in their fieldwork represents a truly unique resource, valued by researchers and institutions around the world.

Between 1973 and 1989, 85% of Kenya's elephants were poached for ivory. Thanks to the hard work of AERP researchers and the local Maasai people, the elephants of Amboseli were spared. Today, the elephants in the Amboseli group represent one of the world's last undisturbed natural elephant populations. Responsible tourism to Amboseli brings in money that helps Maasai communities living in and around Amboseli.

Our support of the AERP helps to pay for much-needed items like repairs to research vehicles, film, computers, and the salaries of the research assistants.

For more information, go to: www.elephanttrust.org