In Kenya’s Maasai Mara game reserve, a significant shift toward electric mobility is fundamentally changing how rangers protect wildlife. Joshua Kijape, a ranger with the Mara-Siana unit attached to Entumoto Safari Camp, has spent the past year utilizing an electric motorcycle for his daily patrols.
The vehicle’s near-silent motor allows Kijape to navigate the tall grass and approach both wildlife and potential poachers without the engine rumble or exhaust associated with traditional petrol-powered engines.
Kijape noted that the stealthy nature of the bike is essential for his work, explaining that he can get closer to animals without causing them distress, and can approach suspected poachers without alerting them to his presence. This deployment is part of a growing effort to bring Africa’s energy transition into wildlife reserves, replacing petrol-powered transport with vehicles charged by the sun.
In the Maasai Mara, conservation operators are testing whether electric mobility can reduce fuel use and maintenance costs while limiting noise in one of Africa’s most important ecosystems. The move comes during one of the Mara’s busiest periods, as the annual wildebeest migration draws huge numbers of animals, tourists, and conservation teams onto the grasslands.
Jason Knauf, CEO of The Earthshot Prize, highlighted the importance of this development, noting that it proves the energy transition is relevant far beyond urban environments. He suggested that if clean technology can demonstrate reliability, affordability, and effectiveness in the demanding conditions of the Mara, it strengthens the case for scaling it across other conservation landscapes and remote communities.
The bikes are manufactured by ROAM, a Nairobi-based company that views the Mara as a critical engineering test of whether an e-bike built in Kenya can handle rough tracks, long patrols, and remote conditions.
ROAM CEO Filip Lovstrom emphasized the environmental and economic benefits, noting that the ability to charge bikes using solar power on-site eliminates the need to transport petrol from the port of Mombasa. The current e-bike models offer a range of approximately 160 kilometers, or 100 miles, between charges.
While longer patrols will necessitate the installation of additional charging infrastructure, Lovstrom explained that because the bikes are compatible with standard 10-amp sockets, charging stations can be built around relatively small solar and battery systems.
He noted that just as access to petrol is difficult in the Mara, the new model requires reliable access to electricity.
Beyond ranger patrols, the adoption of electric transport is expanding among safari operators. Emboo River Camp has utilized electric safari vehicles charged exclusively with solar power since 2019. Loic Amado, co-founder and co-director of the camp, described the shift as an extremely good use case for electric vehicles, noting they are silent, sustainable, environmentally friendly, and economical.
What began as an experiment has grown, through his other firm EERA LAB, into a broader sustainability operation. Amado said it now supports 25 lodges across East Africa with services including wastewater treatment, solar power systems, and electric-vehicle conversions.
Amado stated that Emboo served as a proof of concept and a laboratory to test the model. The camp has since expanded its electric vehicle fleet and more than tripled its solar energy system to meet demand. While Kenya has only a small number of electric safari vehicles in operation, concentrated in the Mara and a handful of other conservation areas, the concept is attracting larger safari operators.
Amado noted that Asilia, which runs about 20 lodges across East Africa, now operates its own electric fleet. To manage these systems, EERA LAB has developed a dashboard that tracks energy generation, consumption, water levels, recycling, and the solar power used to charge vehicles, which Amado says removes the uncertainty safari operators have faced in recent years.
Converting conventional safari vehicles costs between $35,000 and $45,000, but Amado said the investment can pay for itself in about two and a half to three years through fuel and maintenance savings. Emphasizing that the operations run on sunshine, Amado stated that the ultimate goal is to make the Maasai Mara net zero by 2035.
