A gigantic elephant has amazingly healed after being killed in a Kenyan park by a single poisoned arrow.
Doctors rushed against the clock to rescue the enormous elephant Wide Satao after it was h.i.t by an arrow in Kenya’s Tsavo East national park.
If he had not been cured, the poison would have k.i.l.led him in 48 hours.
Wide Satao is a ‘large tusker,’ a word used to describe elephants with tusks that are over 40 years old and are hunted for their precious ivory, with each tusk valued at around $130,000 (£85,000).
Victoria Peckett and Philip Ladmore, a British photography duo, captured the striking images.
Wide Sato was anesthetized with a dart and then had his wound cleansed before being given a heavy dosage of antibacterial treatment.
As we came close to finding Wide Satao, we noticed he had been wounded by a poisoned arrow in his side, “said Mr. Ladmore, a corporate director from Middlesex, England.
We were near enough to see how he removed the dirt and cleaned up the wo.u.nd. Then we gave him the sedatives.
“We witnessed him straining to get up off the ground, but then he went away from his group of male elephants,’ said the researcher.
According to a 2014 Colorado State University study, around 100,000 elephants were sl.a.u.ghtered for their ivory between 2011 and 2014.
Demand from Asian nations, mainly China, fuels the illicit ivory trade. A kilogram of ivory may fetch up to $3, 000.
Because of its tremendous weight, ivory from elephants such as Wide Sataos is highly prized.
“Big tuskers are generally elderly male elephants with tusk weights of 100 pounds or more,” he said.
Because they are so important, their numbers are diminishing.
