Lewa History

With the precipitous decline of black rhinos across Africa in the 1970s, government wildlife agencies and conservation organizations increasingly turned to private landowners, non-profit organizations and indigenous communities to protect the few remaining animals. In Kenya, the number of black rhinos dropped from an estimated 20,000 to fewer than 300 animals, and the only way to prevent their complete extinction was to create high security sanctuaries.

In 1983, David and Delia Craig set aside 5,000 acres of their ranch as the Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary; Anna Merz, a conservationist and philanthropist, threw in her savings; and together they recruited game-trackers, bush pilots, veterinarians and others to round-up and protect Kenya’s rhinos. For the next few years, they tracked, captured and relocated every remaining wild rhino in northern Kenya to the refuge for breeding and safekeeping.  The programme was so successful that within a decade more space was needed, leading the Craigs to dedicate their entire ranch to conservation and form the non-profit Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in 1995.

Today, Lewa employs more than 300 people and  encompasses the 40,000 acres owned by the Craig’s, an additional 8,000 acres owned by others and 14,000 acres of national forest. The reserve supports over 440 species of birds and more than 70 different mammals. Its rhino population has grown steadily, not only restoring local numbers but enabling black rhino reintroduction in regions where they long had been absent. Lewa is also a founding member of and manages black rhino conservation and security in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a 90,000-acre reserve near Lewa that protects the largest single population of black rhinos in Kenya.

Mzee David Craig, 1924-2009

On August 6th, at the age of 84, Mzee David Craig died peacefully in Nanyuki Cottage Hospital with his family by his side.

There are few people on this earth who will leave such a lasting legacy. Here on the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, all of us are acutely aware of the critical role he played in transforming Lewa into what it has become, the leading model for wildlife conservation on private land in eastern Africa.

Mzee’s role in that transformation is all too often underplayed. Of all those with responsibility for land in this part of Africa, he recognised, far more than most, that the future of our wildlife and wild lands depends on commitment to both conservation, and the direct benefits conservation can and does generate for communities.

When remembering David, Anna Merz, who cofounded the Conservancy with David and his family, said “I miss David terribly. I had tremendous respect and liking for him. He was a very special person, very strong morally and hugely compassionate, and with a great breadth of intellect. David always understood, from the beginning that we would need to create a periphery of wealth around Lewa if it was going to work. He spoke of community
conservation way before others did and he spoke of bringing rhinos back to the north of Kenya one day. Everything that is happening now was already in his head in 1982. He was a true pioneer.”

The Conservancy has been fortunate to have had Mzee as a founding Patron, and is privileged to be responsible for taking forwards all that he began here on Lewa so many years ago.

Rest in peace, Mzee.