A photographer captured the last images of Kenya's 'elephant queen' just before her death
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
- The last photos of one of Africa's great "tusker" elephants have just been released.
- The photos were taken by British photographer Will Burrard-Lucas , who last month photographed a rare African black leopard for the first time in more than 100 years .
- The elephant, named F_MU1 and whom Burrard-Lucas called the Elephant Queen, died of natural causes shortly after Burrard-Lucas photographed her.
- It's estimated that there are fewer than 20 tusker elephants, which are often hunted by poachers because of their long tusks, left.
In February, a rare African black leopard was photographed for the first time in more than 100 years.
The photographer who captured the images, Will Burrard-Lucas , seems to have a knack for spotting creatures of this ilk. He's just released another series, this time of a majestic "tusker" elephant, of which there are thought to be fewer than 20 left on Earth.
Will Burrard-Lucas
The Elephant Queen, as Burrard-Lucas called her, died soon after he took the photos. She was known by the code F_MU1 and lived in the Tsavo region of Kenya.
African elephants are referred to as "tuskers" or "big tuskers" when they have tusks long enough to reach the ground. There are so few left because ivory poachers target them for their valuable tusks.
"Super tuskers are very rare these days, precisely because their big tusks makes them prime targets for trophy hunters," Mark Jones from the Born Free wildlife charity told the BBC .
"Because these animals are all too often taken out before they have reached their reproductive prime, super-tusker genes are being bred out of elephant populations, and we could very well be seeing the last of them."
Will Burrard-Lucas
Just two years ago, poachers killed a 50-year-old tusker elephant living in the same region .
It is remarkable then that this elephant lived to be over 60 and died of natural causes.
"She had survived through periods of terrible poaching and it was a victory that her life was not ended prematurely by a snare, bullet or poisoned arrow," Burrard-Lucas wrote in a blog post .
"If there were a Queen of Elephants, it would surely have been her."
Will Burrard-Lucas
In collaboration with wildlife-conservation organization Tsavo Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service , Burrard-Lucas was able to track down the elephant after several days of searching with a car and spotter plane.
Burrard-Lucas used his self-developed, remote-controlled BeetleCam to get close-up pictures of the elephant.
Will Burrard-Lucas
"I looked down at the live view on my wireless monitor and had to pinch myself," he wrote.
"It was a feeling of privilege and euphoria that will stay with me forever."
Burrard-Lucas will publish images of F_MU1 and other tuskers in his book " Land of Giants ," coming out on March 20.
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A true African queen.
Amazing shots. It's terrible that they are being hunted down. Breaks my heart to think of these majestic animals gone.
It is heart breaking. So sad that some people could care less about other life.
What an amazing animal... The perfect name ''Elephant Queen''..
When will be stop destroying the beauty that nature has bestowed us with.
As long as there is monetary greed and idiotic superstition there will be no end to the killing of our beautiful gifts from the Creator. Soon, the only ones left alive will be in the Zoos, and even they will still be at risk from poaches.
To bad more members don't stop by and view the photo of this magnificent animal.
Indeed Kavika. It may not be long before it will e a thing of the past, and only viewed from history books. And too bad that the Creator's wondrous gifts draw so little interest compared to the putrid political sewage spewed here every minute of every day.
It ain't about Trump/Repubs/Dems/Libs/Ind/etc..
This is REAL life - something many folks are forgetting about and ignoring.
Shame - a real shame.
Some dream of sentient life on other planets while majestic species go extinct...
Did you compare the tusks on the "Queen" to the tusks on the one behind her??? Goooooddddddd llllllaaaawwwwrrrddddd. Them's huge.
Elephants are one of the reasons I push the issue of overpopulation
When I was a little boy, they had elephants at our county fair and I helped wash and feed them
very cool !
I really don't believe in torture, but if an apt punishment were required for a poacher of elephant tusks, having murdered the elephants to get them, it would be to pull out all the finger and toe nails and teeth of the poacher, without anesthetic.
A few countries in Africa now have a ''shoot to kill' order for poachers. I have no problem with that at all.
Generally I believe in banning the death penalty, but if one of those pieces of excrement is caught in the act, I'd pull the trigger on them myself.
The ivory is a very valuable commodity, and the poachers are not exactly poor people. If you condone crime, stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is of far less consequence - most likely they would not be treated like Jean Valjean.
The people killing the elephants are not poor people. They are poachers, plain and simple.
The animals killed for food are not the size of elephants, they are much smaller game...and I don't have a problem with that at all.
What a magnificent and majestic Queen!
I have always been fond of elephants. They protect their young...and mourn the loss of another. I hope her daughters and grand-daughters live just as long...I'm sure she taught them well.
I saw a documentary where a group was mourning the loss of one that died. One even looked like it was crying.
They are very intelligent.