Kenya - The legendary elephant bull Ahmed: a king with animal and human bodyguards
Mount Marsabit towers high above the bushveld in northern Kenya. At its foot is a national park named after it, which was long home to another legendary colossus from the region: the bull elephant Ahmed. There are many legends surrounding Ahmed, as National Geographic once wrote in a portrait of the animal. According to one, his tusks were so huge and long that Ahmed could allegedly only climb a hill backwards.
Although the legend has never been proven, there are several photographs of the bull's long tusks. In the early 1970s, Ahmed and his tusks became known worldwide through several TV documentaries.
The bull elephant Ahmed had several bodyguards
According to the report, Ahmed always had two smaller bull elephants at his side, who were regarded by the locals as his bodyguards and behaved accordingly. After the TV fame came human protectors: Kenya's then President Jomo Kenyatta declared Ahmed a living memorial following a letter-writing campaign by schoolchildren. To protect him from poachers, five armed gamekeepers watched over the national treasure around the clock and he was henceforth known as the "King of Marsabit".
Ahmed died of natural causes a few years later, his age was estimated at around 65 years. Despite the animal and human protection, old rifle bullets were discovered in his body - relics of a risky life. Ahmed's skeleton and tusks are now in the Nairobi National Museum, and a fiberglass replica of the famous colossus stands in front of the museum. Ahmed is still regarded today as a symbol of the need to protect Kenya's endangered elephants.
Source: "National Geographic" (archived), Google Arts and Culture
In the gallery: Endangered animal species are not only found in regions such as the Antarctic or in rainforests. Even in our latitudes, conditions are sometimes problematic. This is shown by the WWF balance sheet on winners and losers in the animal world.
Read also:
- Snow chaos further restricts Bavaria
- Unanimous decision: faster wolf culls possible
- The year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Snow and ice paralyze southern Germany
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ahmed's spectacular tusks made him the subject of numerous headlines and top news around the world, featuring in several television documentaries. Despite his protection by both animal and human bodyguards, Ahmed, the legendary elephant bull of Kenya, unfortunately succumbed to natural causes at around 65 years old, with old rifle bullets found within his body as remnants of his perilous life.
Source: www.stern.de
