Tarangire National Park

There are tons of elephants in Tarangire National Park. We were lucky to see so many, and so close. However, there is a great threat to them - poaching. It sorta seems like that went out of style in the 80s when ivory was banned. But, the ivory trade has made a huge comeback, and it is at the expense of these animals. In 2012, 2 dozen elephants have been killed, just in the small Tarangire area. There is very little being done to prevent poaching, and unfortunately game meat is cheaper than buying beef or goat from Maasai herders. Here is a recent article about the poisoning of some elephants: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Tanzania+battles+elephant+poaching/-/2558/1395686/-/chq1yxz/-/

Here are some elephants that we saw in Tarangire: