9781422279113

introduction INTRODUCTION

Even looking from an airplane, hundreds of feet above the ground, it was still easy to spot Satao. He was a “tusker,” a kind of elephant known for his enormous tusks. At 6.5 feet (2 m) long and 110 pounds (50 kg) each, the tusks almost dragged on the ground. It was impossible to know for sure, but he might have had the largest tusks of any elephant in the world. Thousands of visitors came to Tsavo East National Park in Kenya just to get a glimpse of Satao. It wasn’t just curious tourists who wanted to see him. The famous bull elephant was also a target for poachers. His giant tusks were made of solid ivory. They were worth thou- sands of dollars.

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