Wildlife officials revealed that Satao, a giant elephant with tusks²（獠牙） that nearly reached the ground, has died after being shot with poisoned arrows in late May.

 

Conservationists describe how the bull elephant had intentionally³ hid in bushes to conceal⁴ his sweeping⁵ tusks, which were estimated to each weigh around 45kg.

 

Satao's death at the age of around 45 years is the latest in a massive upsurge of poaching of the mammals for their ivory across the African continent.

 

Wildlife officials found Satao's carcass（尸体，残骸） was found with his face hacked⁶ off and weighty tusks removed.

 

Richard Moller, of The Tsavo Trust, who had been monitoring Satao for several months confirmed that the elephant found dead on May 30 was indeed Satao, whom he called "an icon⁷".

 

"There is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher's poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable（贪得无厌的） demand for ivory in far-off countries," Mr Moller said.

 

"A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket（小装饰品） on their mantelpiece.

 

"The loss of such an iconic elephant is the most visible and heart-rending tip of this iceberg⁸, this tragedy that is unfolding across the continent," added Frank Pope of Save The Elephants in Nairobi.

 

A soaring demand for ivory in a number of Asian nations has seen poaching hit levels that were last reached in the 1980s before the ivory trade was banned.

 

The street value of elephant tusk¹ is believed to exceed thousands of dollars per kilo and officials have acknowledged the role of organised crime in the poaching crisis.

 

More than 20,000 African elephants were slaughtered⁹ in 2013, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna¹⁰ and Flora¹¹ (CITES).

 

The Kenya Wildlife Service has documented the killing¹² of 97 elephants so far this year, but experts dispute the official figures.

 

Dr Paula Kahumbu, who leads the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign, wrote that – based on the reports she has seen - "elephant poaching in Kenya is at least 10 times the official figures".

 

Earlier this month, police seized more than 200 elephant tusks in a warehouse¹³ in the port city of Mombasa, weighing over 2,000kg.

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