Elephant Craig, who died of natural causes a couple of weeks ago, was one of the last remaining super-tuskers. He lived and died at Amboseli National Park in Kenya, and was loved for his calm and gentle nature. Elephants have six sets of molars, and when the last ones wear away, the elephant cannot chew and digest food properly. Craig’s tusks have been removed and will be locked away.
Super tuskers are bull elephants whose tusks weigh over 45kg each. Sometimes these tusks scrape on the ground. Most of them are found in Kenya (Tsavo and Amoseli regions). These super tuskers are normally approaching the end of their lifespan. I have seen estimates of between 25 and 30 super tuskers remaining in Africa. Read more here on the Tsavo Trust page (also the source of the photos below)
This is BA1
SL1
KU1
😔 At least he was safe.
Yes, and lived and died in freedom. Those parks are huge and he could go wherever he wanted. I read that in the weeks and days before he died he had security and human friends close by so that he died safe and not alone.
Poor elephant… They should give them proper names instead of weird ID numbers… They are very impressive animals!
I hate that elephants are still being killed for their ivory tusks. These magnificent beasts deserve protection by everyone and I refuse to buy ivory (not just because I can’t afford it but because I love elephants and I always have). The huge tusks of these magnificent animals look much better worn by elephants than any human.