Toroka

Toroka, when loosely translated from Swahili means ‘to get away’, is an Amboseli elephant that has lost the tip of his trunk. Elephants can chip or break their trunks in a variety of ways: at the young age, during bull fight or an encounter with a snare, which we suspect is the reason in Toroka’s case..

Amboseli ecosystem is protected by Big Life Foundation. Big Life was co-founded by photographer Nick Brandt and award-winning conservationist Richard Bonham in September 2010.

Since its inception, Big Life has expanded to employ hundreds of Maasai rangers—with more than 40 permanent outposts and tent-based field units, 13 vehicles, tracker dogs, and aerial surveillance—protecting 2 million acres of wilderness in the Amboseli-Tsavo-Kilimanjaro ecosystem of East Africa.

Photo copyright: Big Life Foundation