Satao II was a male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) of around fifty years of age that lived in Tsavo National Park, in Kenya. Satao II was widely celebrated for his colossal tusks: he was what is known as a tusker — a male that, owing to a genetic variant, develops tusks of enormous size, so long they almost brush the ground.

A giant killed for money

It was precisely because of his celebrated, magnificent tusks — each weighing over fifty kilograms and giving the pachyderm a unique and regal appearance — that Satao II was killed by poachers. The elephant's death was announced by the non-profit organisation Tsavo Trust and is believed to date back to 4 January; the exact cause has yet to be established, but he is thought to have been killed by a poisoned arrow. His tusks, however, were found intact on the animal's lifeless body, meaning the poachers had apparently been unable to remove them.

Two poachers arrested

Tsavo Trust also reported that park rangers had arrested two poachers believed to be responsible for the deaths of Satao II and three other elephants. At the time of their arrest, the two suspects were in possession of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, three bows and numerous poisoned arrows.

In the name of Satao

Satao II owed his name to another tusker that had lived in the Kenyan park, Satao, who was likewise killed by poachers in 2014, also with poisoned arrows. According to estimates, only around twenty-five tuskers now survive across the entire African continent.

The importance of tuskers

As well as having an unmistakable appearance, these particular elephants are also thought to play an important role within their own social groups. "Elephants of this type have been embedded in social networks for fifty or sixty years," explained Vicki Fishlock, a researcher with the Amboseli Trust for Elephants conservation programme, "and have therefore accumulated experience that they can pass on to younger animals." Moreover, the elephant's brain — and the use the largest land mammal makes of its neurons, which are three times as numerous as those of our own species — remains an enigma to us. An enigma that risks remaining unsolved as a result of the scourge of poaching, which is driving these enormous creatures towards extinction.

The ivory trade is driving elephants to extinction

The illegal ivory trade represents the gravest threat to elephants and could be the cause of this species' disappearance; its current population is estimated at just 415,000 individuals. Poverty, rampant corruption among law enforcement agencies, and demand for ivory — which remains high despite many countries having banned its trade — are the three main causes of elephant poaching for their tusks. It is to be hoped that China's recent announcement that it will ban the domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017 may deal a decisive blow to elephant poaching in Africa, before one of the planet's most charismatic species is lost forever and without our having understood the mystery of their minds.