Matan a elefante más emblemático de África

El elefante de 50 años de edad era uno de los últimos “super tuskers”, paquidermos con colmillos más grandes y pesados de lo habitual. Fue muerto con una flecha envenenada

Por: Agencias RT | Ciudad de México.- Satao II, uno de los elefantes más viejos y grandes de África, ha sido encontrado muerto en el parque nacional Tsavo de Kenia. Se cree que dos cazadores furtivos son los responsables de ultimar a este 'súper' elefante de 50 años de edad, uno de los 25 que quedan en África. Ambos sospechosos fueron detenidos. El cuerpo de Satao II fue descubierto este lunes por guardabosques durante un reconocimiento aéreo de rutina. Más tarde se halló una flecha envenenada en su cuerpo. "Por suerte pudimos encontrar el cadáver antes de que los cazadores furtivos pudieran obtener el marfil", observó Richard Moller, de la organización sin fines de lucro Tsavo Trust.

Giant elephant Satao 2 poached in Tsavo, 6 super tuskers left - Africa Geographic https://t.co/y747jjZjhd pic.twitter.com/1IZ7PlnGww

— Stephen Musyoka (@smusyoka) 6 de marzo de 2017

Este raro animal pertenece a una clase de elefantes que presenta unos colmillos extremadamente grandes, que a menudo pesan más de 36 kilos. El marfil es un material valioso en el mercado negro y su precio alcanza hasta los 1.100 dólares por kilo.

Tragic News to report from #Tsavo, #Kenya…. One of the last giant tuskers left in #Africa, #Satao2, has been poached! Named after the magnificent #Satao who was poached in 2014, this is absolutely devastating to the conservation world and a huge loss for this iconic species. RIP Beautiful Satao 2 Photo 1: Credit Tsavo Trust – Satao’s carcass Photo 2: Credit – Dex Kotze – Beautiful Satao 2 – will be sorely missed! #Elephants #Tuskers #WorthMoreAlive #SayNoToIvory #GMFER2017 Please read further via: Africa Geographic “SATAO 2 is dead, and another of the last tuskers left in Africa has been poached, leaving only 6 of these giants in the #Tsavo Conservation Area in southern Kenya. This is a devastating blow to elephant conservation and to super tusker genes. SATAO 2 was named after SATAO, the iconic giant who was poached in 2014 and was one of the largest tuskers left on Earth. A ‘tusker’ is an elephant whose tusks each weigh in excess of 100 lbs / 45,45kg. The tusks of Satao 2 weighed 51kg and 50.5kg. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers discovered the gruesome kill site before the poachers had the time to remove the tusks. Although not totally certain, indications are that SATAO 2 was killed by a poison arrow. In subsequent investigations, two people have been apprehended and weapons seized. KWS continues to work hard to rid Tsavo of poaching teams that roam the reserve. The massive 44,000 km² Tsavo Conservation Area (twice the size of #SouthAfrica’s #KrugerNationalPark) is home to the highest population of large-tusked elephants in the world, with 6 ‘super tuskers’ (of approximately 25-30 in the whole of Africa) and 15 emerging tuskers (young bulls who have the genes and potential to become tuskers). There are also 7 cows with tusks reaching the ground that are being monitored.

Una publicación compartida de Global March for Eles & Rhinos (@gm4er) el 6 de Mar de 2017 a la(s) 6:02 PST