One of the majestic matriarchs of Tsavo has left us. Dida, also known as F-D1, was one of the Iconic Female Tuskers in the Tsavo Conservation Area in Kenya. She was one of many who are monitored by the aerial surveillance of the Big Tusker Project operated by Tsavo Trust which is a joint operation with the Kenya Wildlife Service. Her body was spotted from the air on October 31, 2022.
Dida was last sighted alive on September 3, moving about and feeding with ease, but appearing old and weak. She is estimated to have been approximately 60 years old and to have died of old age, perhaps hastened by the current drought in the area. She lived a long, productive life where she no doubt passed on her tusker genes to many sons and daughters. Prior to death she was the matriarch of a breeding herd of 12 elephants.

Since being initially identified in 2012, Dida had been spotted and monitored 111 times. Her ivory was found intact with each tusk weighing over 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and being 76 and 75 inches long (almost 2 meters each).

The International Elephant Foundation has supported the protection of Dida and the others Big Tuskers of Tsavo for many years, and even highlighted her in our Sponsor An Elephant program. We are saddened by her passing but heartened to know she lived a full life and did not meet an untimely death due to poaching.

The International Elephant Foundation is excited to announce that our next Conservation Chat guest will be Christian Triay! Christian is co-founder and trustee of the African Forest Elephant Foundation, the only NGO whose sole mission is the protection of forest elephants in central and west African rainforest habitat. Trained as a lawyer in England, Christian worked at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds in Cape Town and experienced first-hand how sustainable conservation work requires working with different stakeholders, governments, as well as wildlife. IEF has supported their work in Guinea since 2018, including equipping rangers to enable longer patrols, and collaring elephants to monitor habitat use and prevent human-elephant conflict.

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Did you know that December 1st in the Dallas/Fort Worth area you can support elephants while painting? Join us for Painting With A Twist. View more details here