Hands Off Our Elephants is one of Dr Kahumbu’s main projects. The personal rapport and knowledge that had been built over years of conservation work and studies of elephants made her feel it was not possible to sit by and watch these animals be poached. Despite the 1989 CITES ban on the sell and purchase of ivory working for a while, experimental sales took place to Japan from South Africa in 2000 and another to China also in 2008. Dr Kahumbu was one of those who believed these “experimental” sales had changed the perception of ivory and this renewed introduction stirred back up a stronger market demand that was growing at disproportionately large rate.

Partnering with various agencies, from civil society to other conservation organisations, Hands Off Our Elephants aimed to send the message that they (Kenya) were willing and able to defend their elephants from countries halfway across the world poaching them. The patron of the campaign is Her Excellency, Margaret Kenyatta, the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. Through this support, and the efforts of the campaign there, has been a significant decline in poaching in Kenya, since its creation in 2013. How she did this? She attributed the success to a number of techniques.