Satao

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Satao was an African elephant that lived in Tsavo East National Park, one of the largest wildlife parks in the world with a large population of elephants. He was thought to have been born during the late 1960’s and to have been at least 45 years old when he was killed. He was estimated to be one of the largest elephants in the world at the time of his death and has been described as one of Kenya’s most iconic and well-known tuskers. Satao’s tusks were over 6.5 feet long.

In March 2014, Satao was found with two seeping wounds in his flank from poisoned arrows shot into him, which were confirmed by veterinarians who rushed to the scene to treat him. After a number of days Satao recovered from his festering wounds. Satao was last spotted alive on 19 May 2014.

On 2 June 2014, Richard Moller of the Tsavo Trust found a huge elephant carcass lying in a swamp near the boundary of Tsavo East National Park. The tusks had been cut off and the face was badly mutilated so the carcass could not be identified with certainty at that time. For about 10 days, Moller and Kenya Wildlife Service searched for Satao before concluding he was dead. A poisoned arrow shot deep into his left flank on 30 May 2014 killed him.

Satao was officially declared dead on 13 June 2014 and the Tsavo Trust released the following statement announcing his death.

“It is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries. A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on his or her mantelpiece. Rest in peace, Old Friend, you will be missed.”

The above information was gathered from Wikipedia