Why wildlife campaigners are 'CELEBRATING' death of one of Africa’s most famous elephants
CONSERVATIONISTS are lamenting the bittersweet death of one of Africa’s most famous elephants – Mudanda the Big Tusker.
Rare footage of Africa's 'red elephant' who recently died
The huge one-time matriarch was renown because she was one of only 30 elephants to have escaped the ravages of poachers long enough for her tusks to grow to the ground.
At least 60 years old, Mudanda was also the mother of countless other elephants who add grandeur to the red-shaded landscape of Kenya’s famous Tsavo National Park. It is the park’s red earth that gave Mudanda such distinctive colouring.
Mudanda’s glowing hide and huge tusks, each weighing more than a grown man, would have made her a highly prized target for the desperate ivory hunters targeting Tsavo famous Big Tuskers. In May, poachers brought down a legendary elephant called Satao the Second with a poison arrow inside the park.
Somehow, Mudanda was both well protected and lucky enough not to be killed and mutilated by poachers.
Her death in recent days has left conservationists with divided emotions: mourning her sad demise but also celebrating the way she had been spared the agony of bullets, snares and poison arrows to die at a grand age.
Faye Cuevas, IFAW senior vice President in Nairobi, and who recently came face to face with the Big Tusker, explained why Mudanda’s death has not been in vain.
“Mudanda is definitely a success story for conservation and for elephants, especially in the Tsavo, where poaching was previously high and where Big Tuskers are constantly targeted by poachers for their massive tusks,” she said.
“Although, we have no way of knowing, Mudanda was estimated to be about 60 years old when she died, and likely gave birth to many, many babies during her long life.
Mudanda is definitely a success story for conservation and for elephants, especially in the Tsavo, where poaching was previously high
“Her tusks were recovered safely and successfully by Kenya Wildlife Service after her death and will be secured in the government stockpile, forever outside of economic use by wildlife criminals. Mudanda's remains will remain in the red Tsavo clay, in the place she took her final rest.”
Wise and sagely, Mudanda had spent her recent life away from her herd, passing her role as matriarch to a new head of the family, while she ventured off with her son.
Cuevas says she had the honour of seeing Mudanda this summer when she visited Tsavo with IFAW colleague James Isiche.
She describes how Mudanda’s son emerged from the bush to check them over before it was safe enough for the mother elephant to appear.
“Mudanda passed right in front of James and me,” Cuevas enthused.
“She was massive and elegant and extraordinary. I held my breath the whole time.
“Her death is truly the end of an era. But, it warms my heart to know that she lived a long life and thanks to the efforts of our partners, Kenya Wildlife Service, Tsavo Trust and others, and the work we do with them, in the end she did not die at the hands of a poacher. We spent probably two hours there with her that day in May. Rest in Peace, Mudanda.”
James Isiche, IFAW East Africa regional director, added: “I was privileged to be in her majestic presence and I cannot forget how she suddenly turned her head and stared directly at us. Thankfully she led a full life and did not die of unnatural causes.”
Today, according to recent surveys, 415,000 elephants survive across Africa, a massive decline from the 600,000 counted in 1989, when the international ban on the ivory trade was imposed by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna).
More than two elephants continue to be killed every hour of the day, pushing the population increasingly downwards, and with the European Union a major destination for illegal ivory as well as a key exporter of antique ivory to the Far East, according to a recent IFAW report.
The UK Government recently announced a consultation on a potential ban on ivory sales. It closes on December 29.
IFAW’s UK director Philip Mansbridge said: “As long as we have legal ivory markets, sadly many other elephants will have their lives cut short and the entire species will be pushed further towards extinction.
“We are at a tipping point if the elephant is to be saved. The elephant is vital to the ecosystem and like all animals they matter to people and to the planet.
“IFAW campaigns for the introduction of ivory bans in the UK and across Europe to help save elephants. We were heartened by the UK Government’s announcement of a consultation on a UK ivory ban and now urge the Government to ensure that a strong ban is introduced as quickly as possible. Then we hope we can hear more stories like Mudanda’s.”
He continued: “This is a truly touching story. It is of course always sad to hear of the passing of an animal, especially a wise and experienced member of an elephant herd like Mudanda, a former matriarch.
“The tale is bittersweet but it is definitely a victory for conservation. There is a real irony that so often there are headlines about another iconic animal’s death, very often an elephant, but all too frequently we are talking of a death that has been sudden and violent, at the hand of poachers who value only their tusks.
“At IFAW we cherish the stories of individual elephants that have been able to live out their lives without them being cut short by a poacher’s bullet, just so their tusks can be carved into trinkets that none of us need.”
For more details of IFAW’s campaign on the ivory ban, click here.