Tsavo Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service organizations partnered with a British photographer Will Burrard-Lucas to show the fantastic animals in Tsavo.
The photographer recently shared the journey on his blog, detailing the efforts. The key subject of Burrard-Lucas’ photographs, however, was something that truly stood out from the crowd of other elephants.
“If there were a Queen of Elephants, it would surely have been her” Burrard-Lucas explained. What the photographer described is F_MU1, an extraordinary cow elephant with enormous two tusks. She is one of just a few elephants known as tusker (or super-tusker), a type of elephant that has genetic properties granting it great size and large tusks. They are rare and looked after, especially considering the fact that poachers kill elephants for their tusks.
“F_MU1 was skinny and old but she strode forward with stately grace. Her tusks were so long that they scraped the ground in front of her. She was like a relic from a bygone era” the photographer recalled the first time he laid his eyes on the Elephant Queen.
F_MU1 lived for over 60 years and led a peaceful life, managing to evade harm. “Her temperament was gentle and calm. Sometimes she would come so close to me that I could have touched her” Burrard-Lucas detailed his experience with the gentle giant.
Unfortunately, as Will was snapping shots of the elephants, an ongoing drought made it hard for the animals to survive, especially the younglings and elders. Food was scarce and it was probably a big contributor to the Elephant Queen’s passing a couple of weeks later.
The photographs are featured in Will’s new book titled “Land of Giants” along different shots of Tsavo’s other iconic tuskers. The book is set to be released on 20th March.
