Elephants recolonize Mount Elgon, Uganda for the first time in over 40 years, marking a major conservation milestone 

For immediate release 

Chester, Nova Scotia—March 12, 2025—Biome Conservation: For the first time in more than four decades, elephants have naturally returned in significant numbers to the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon—crossing the Kenya–Uganda border and reclaiming a large part of their historical range lost in the 1970s.  

Monitoring in late 2025 confirmed that at least 60 elephants have moved back and forth to get a feel for their ancestral distribution range. The range expansion marks a major conservation success: the natural recolonization of a species resulting from long-term protection, monitoring, and community-based conservation efforts. 

Andre Boraks, Director of Programs and Data, Biome Conservation, said:  

“Elephants reestablishing parts of their historical range after an extirpation event is a major success. It speaks to the long-term commitment of Kenyans in protecting an important elephant population. It also tells us that the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon has been sufficiently stable to make elephants feel welcome.”  

Christopher Powles, Trustee Chair of Mount Eglon Foundation, said:  

“Mount Elgon’s elephants are genuinely unique, given their culture of mining in at least 55 of Mount Elgon’s caves. I am completely delighted that we have been able to help them recover from a small remnant population in the 1980s to now being in a position where they are spreading back across the mountain, so safeguarding their extraordinary mining behaviour in the future.” 

Mount Elgon once supported more than 1,000 elephants roaming freely across what is now the Kenya–Uganda border.  Political instability in the 1970s led to the extirpation of elephants from the Uganda side of Mount Elgon and a severe decline in Kenya’s population.  However, recovery can occur when habitat conditions improve, hunting or persecution stops, or ecological corridors reconnect habitats. Thanks to sustained conservation efforts, Kenya’s Mount Elgon elephant population has rebounded to an estimated 560 individuals, allowing elephants to expand back into previously abandoned habitat. 

The return of elephants to Uganda coincides with the recent designation of the Mount Elgon Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-recognized site that strengthens cooperation between the governments of Kenya and Uganda as well as between the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Uganda Wildlife Authority. This alignment creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reestablish elephants into their historical range.  

The Mount Elgon Elephant Project focuses its work in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia Counties and is organized by the East African Wild Life Society and supported by local and international conservation organizations, including Biome Conservation, Mount Elgon Foundation, Elephant Crisis Fund, and the Mara Elephant Project.  Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service are also involved since a great deal of the elephant’s range is within Forest Reserves and National Parks.  

Building on this momentum, the Mount Elgon Elephant Project and the key government agencies, Kenya Wildlife Service and Uganda Wildlife Authority, have begun exploring plans to expand the project’s working model into Uganda to complement ongoing work in Kenya, ensuring the safe, coordinated management of elephants across the Mount Elgon landscape. 

This moment represents more than the return of elephants—it signals what’s possible when conservation is sustained, collaborative, and rooted in local stewardship. 

About Biome Conservation
Biome Conservation supports high-impact conservation projects around the world that protect biodiversity, strengthen ecosystems, and work in partnership with local communities. Learn more at https://biomeconservation.org/. 

Media Contact: 

Andre Boraks, Director of Programs & Data at Biome Conservation 

andre@biomeconservation.org 

Christopher Powles, Trustee Chair at Mount Elgon Foundation 

chris@mountelgonfoundation.org.uk