CNN
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Imagine sitting in the front row every day as a kid watching one of nature’s most remarkable live-action shows. That was the reality for conservationist Joseph Caro, who grew up along the border of Kenya’s largest protected area.
Tsavo East National Park is known as the ‘Theater of the Wild’ and is Kenya’s oldest park. Together with the Tsavo West National Park and other reserves, it forms the approximately 42,000-square-kilometer (16,200-square-mile) protected area known as the Tsavo Ecosystem.
Rhinoceros, buffalo, lions, leopards, cheetahs, wildebeests and zebras live here, but among its inhabitants is one gigantic animal that stops people. Growing between 10 and 13 feet tall, this elephant is a rare type of elephant known as a Super Tusker.
“My first encounter with big tusks was here in Tsavo National Park. “They were huge, he was over 100 pounds on a side, very long and symmetrical, almost touching the ground.”
The thrill of witnessing nature shows as a child ignited Joseph’s passion and career. He is a Conservation Officer and pilot for the Tsavo Trust, an organization dedicated to protecting the wildlife of the Tsavo Nature Reserve (TCA), especially Super His Tusker.
“The Tsavo ecosystem holds arguably the largest number of large tusks in Africa,” says Caro. The problem is that there aren’t many of them.
Supertaskers are bull elephants with their own tusks. weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms), which is longer enough to touch the ground more often, according to the Tsavo Trust.
There are roughly a few dozen of these magnificent beasts left in the world, and most, if not all, are now concentrated in Kenya. I keep a close eye on some elephants.
Elephant tusks are enlarged incisors that appear around the age of two and continue to grow throughout the elephant’s 60-70 year lifespan. Elephants use their tusks not only as their primary defense system, but also to gather food and protect their trunks. Wildlife experts have observed that elephants, like left- or right-handed humans, have left- or right-handed tusks, and the dominant tusk wears away with more frequent use. I’m here.
Supertaskers have a genetic mutation that causes their fangs to grow faster and longer. Still, this somewhat threatening-looking feature is also what makes Tasker so vulnerable.
According to Kyalo, sightings of large tuskers in their natural habitat are decreasing. Poaching of these wandering giants has greatly reduced their numbers.
“These giant elephants are under constant threat from trophy poachers and trophy hunters in countries where the practice is permitted,” Caro says. “There are about 25 individuals left in the world.” and most of them inhabit the Tsavo Nature Reserve, and it is important that every effort is made to protect what is probably the last remaining viable gene pool of ‘Big Tusker’. ”
Therefore, Tsavo Trust was established in 2013. The organization’s primary objective is to work with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to track, monitor and protect Super Tusker and its habitat, as well as other wildlife in the Tsavo Reserve. .
This ecosystem is Kenya’s largest elephant habitat.a 2021 Wildlife Survey Their number is 15,989, which is about 40% of the country’s elephant population.
Conservation to protect vulnerable animals in Africa
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– Source: CNN
Others, Caro said, include the hirola (an endangered antelope), the endangered Grevy’s zebra, and about one-fifth of the nation’s endangered black rhinoceros. It is said that rare animals live there.
Poaching and trophy hunting are not the only threats to endangered wildlife in Kenya. “Other issues include human-wildlife conflicts,” Caro says. Elephants and other animals have been known to raid people’s crops, which can lead to retaliation. The Tsavo Trust and his KWS are trying to alleviate the problem by building fences around farmland.
“A lot of conservation awareness has been done by our community department team to promote coexistence between wildlife and humans,” says Caro.
We hope that positive encounters with wildlife, much like Kyalo’s childhood experiences, will help inspire conservation within the communities that surround protected areas.
Caro and his fellow field team members continue to monitor the taskers in hopes of not only saving them, but increasing their numbers.
“A future without ‘Big Tusker’ in Tsavo is not worth thinking about,” says Caro. “The presence of these majestic animals brings huge numbers of visitors to the park each year, and the revenue generated is vital to further conservation efforts and support of the local community.”
