NOTES FROM THE FIELD | 2025 | No. 9

Golden sunlight streams across the vast African savanna, illuminating a rolling grassy expanse dotted with twisted acacia trees and the faint shimmer of a distant watering hole. Lumbering elephants, treetop-tall giraffes, and horned rhinos are on the move, grazing and searching for water. Cheetahs, lions, and leopards are on the lookout for their next meal.

While the savanna is home to some of the world’s most iconic—and endangered—wildlife, it’s also integral to the lives of the local pastoralist people and livestock that also live there. Through our Savanna Conservation Hub, we collaborate on innovative community-led conservation strategies to protect wildlife, restore rangelands, and improve local livelihoods.

Our teams and partners, including Twiga Walinzi (meaning “giraffe guards” in Swahili) and Chui Mamas (“leopard mothers”), work to foster human-wildlife coexistence in these dynamic grasslands. They organize community workshops and work alongside local conservancies on key projects, collaborating to put conservation solutions into action for the savanna and all who call it home.

Picturing the African savanna without roaming towers of giraffes would be unthinkable. However, over the past 35 years, their numbers have dropped by over 30%. New hope for the future arrived this year when endangered Masai giraffes were born at both the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, increasing the global population and turning a spotlight on crucial ongoing conservation efforts.
STANDING TALL >

Nearly 50 years ago, black rhino populations were decimated by rampant poaching in Kenya. Today, they’re making a comeback in protected areas where they can thrive. You helped make it possible to translocate 21 critically endangered black rhinos to Kenya’s newest rhino sanctuary.
SOUND THE HORNS >

Gaining insights into the daily activities of individual black rhinos that were translocated in Kenya is a crucial part of ongoing conservation work. Our Conservation Technology Lab is developing machine learning technology that automatically identifies specific rhinos from field camera images to gain that information—with a little help from rhinos at the Safari Park.
HIGH-TECH TOOLS >

Vultures are the savanna’s sanitation workers, cleaning up carcasses and keeping disease from spreading. Discover more about these remarkable birds and engage with experts during a special Wildlife Awareness Day, September 6 at the Safari Park. Learn how your support fuels conservation work in our eight Conservation Hubs, and keep an eye out for wildlife talks and other fun activities.
FLY ON IN >

Soon, you’ll walk with elephants, and get closer than ever before. Denny Sanford Elephant Valley, the largest and most transformative project in Safari Park history, will reimagine the heart of the park. This place of exploration and discovery will connect you with one of the largest elephant herds in North America while sharing the collaborative conservation work you make possible across the savanna.
THINK BIG >

Join us to celebrate World Elephant Day and Wild Weekend: Savanna, August 9–10 at the Safari Park. Discover how you’re saving, protecting, and caring for incredible wildlife through our Savanna Conservation Hub. There’s fun for the whole herd!

Your support saves wildlife.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is an international conservation nonprofit and a registered
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With more than 100 years of wildlife care expertise and partnerships around the globe, we are saving, protecting, and caring for species worldwide.

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