Kenya Wildlife Service loses ‘Lugard’ an iconic Elephant.

Kenya Wildlife Service loses ‘Lugard’ an iconic Elephant.

A male elephant known as Lugard passed away a few weeks after Dida, another well-known female elephant, did.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced on November 24 that the famous elephant had passed away from old age.

We bid farewell to Lugard, one of Tsavo’s renowned and majestic Super Tuskers, with a heavy heart, KWS said.

One of Kenya’s Super Tuskers named Lugard is said to have passed away on November 21, 2022, in Tsavo West National Park.

Joseph Kimaile, a conservation officer and pilot for the Tsavo Trust, stumbled upon Lugard’s three-day-old carcass while touring the park.

“Lugard is without a doubt the father of many elephants of different ages, and many of his kids will probably develop into Super Tuskers in the future because his unusual “big tusk” genes have been transmitted and preserved in the Tsavo habitat.

But it is always heartbreaking to lose an elephant, much less a Super Tusker, said KWS.

KWS and Tsavo Trust immediately dispatched an emergency ground reaction team to the scene of the carcass to investigate.

The experts concluded that the animal died of old age because both of its tusks were recovered intact. The park’s management was concerned that poachers may have attacked and taken the mammal’s highly prized tusks.

Lugard, you will be sorely missed,” KWS continued.

Notably, KWS started the Tsavo “Big Tusker Project” ten years ago in collaboration with the Tsavo Trust with the intention of giving the fabled Tuskers more security.

Najib Balala, a former cabinet secretary for tourism, claims that 179 elephants perished in 2021 as a result of drought.

Balala attributed the lack of rain and the intense sun for drying out all the plants.

Balala declared, “We are hurriedly erecting water pans in our parks, particularly Tsavo which is worst hit.”