The Mara Vet Unit - Saving Countless Lives

Through our 2% to the Wild pledge, Elizabeth Scarlett has proudly funded the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Mara mobile veterinary unit since 2021. 

About the Mara Vet Unit

The Mara Unit is one of five fully equipped Mobile Veterinary Unitus operated by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service. This particular unit comes to the aid of injured wild animals within the critical conservation area which is the Masai Mara. These incidents are often the result of human-wildlife conflict as well as poaching, with species like giraffes targeted for their meat and skins or elephants targeted for their tusks.

As you can imagine, running such a Unit is an expensive feat; from vet wages and vehicle upkeep to the purchase of necessary medicines, and so, as part of our commitment to give back to the natural world that inspires so many of our designs, we’re striving to fund the Unit for a full year - enabling the team to continue their incredible work, helping the country’s beautiful wildlife to thrive.

Highlights from 2022

From January to June, the unit has attended 43 cases, saving countless wild lives, which would have been otherwise lost. 

Cases the Mara Vet Unit attended are wide-ranging and include wildlife injured by  snares,  spears,  and arrows,  most notably of elephant, giraffe, and zebra.  Other cases include a  lion poisoned due to livestock predation, and a zebra and cheetah injured by fencing, which were all related to Human-Wildlife Conflict. One baby elephant also required rescuing after suffering gunshot wounds to its right hind leg.

To read more about the amazing work that the Mara Mobile Veterinary Unit has been carrying out with the help of our funding & learn more about the Sheldrick Trust’s mission you can visit here: www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/