@Regrann from @endextinctionintl - Truly devastating news from @biglifeafrica ・・・ NDAWE’S JOURNEY ENDS AT THE HANDS OF HUMANS Ndawe was the proof that elephants made the long journey between Tsavo and Amboseli. He was what was known as a ‘hundred pounder’, an elephant whose tusks weigh 100 pounds or more each, and of which there are thought to be less than 100 on the entire continent. Sadly Ndawe’s journey has ended at the hands of humans, death delivered by four spears. He was speared for the first time in late April this year likely due to crop-raiding and was treated. But these most recent spearings are more sinister. The area where Ndawe lived is now separated from cropland by the newly constructed electric crop-protection fence, and so it is highly unlikely that these wounds were the result of conflict. The fact that three spears hit is even more unlikely in a spontaneous conflict incident. Big Life is confident that this was a poaching attempt, perhaps opportunistic. None of the spears killed him immediately. Rangers reported the wounds and he was darted for treatment once again. Sadly, this time he did not get up. Infection from the wounds, his poor health, and age all contributed, but it was spears that killed him. At an estimated at 55-60 years, he was a grand old bull and with his teeth worn down he was right at the end of his life, but this was a sad way to finish it. The only consolation is that his tusks have been retrieved, and his death will not line a poacher’s pockets. We are doing what we can to track his killers. However, his life will have an enduring impact because he is the proof of the importance of the Kimana conservancies and corridor, a highly threatened but critical link that elephants use to travel around the ecosystem. Image credits: Taru Carr-Hartley (left), Clifford Pickett (right) #endextinctionintl #endextinction #savethetuskers #endivorytrade@imaznowflake - #regrann
