We were working on our projects in the camp office when Chris received a phone call saying that two poached elephants had been found. Having never witnessed the cruel reality of poaching before, neither of us were sure what to expect.
We drove out towards Isiolo town and picked up Wilson and a local scout who knew the location of the two carcasses. After a while weaving between acacia bushes, an overpowering smell hit us before we caught sight of the first elephant. As we approached it was clear that the whole face had been removed by the poachers in order to extract the tusks. Damage had also been sustained to the back leg as a result of scavenging hyenas. Evidence of this came a short distance from the carcass where there lay the remains of one hyena – apparently the victim of an intra-group conflict. Aware that we may not be alone, Chris left the motor running for a speedy (and thankfully unnecessary) get away!
The elephant itself had been poached around 3 days ago and was already infested with flies. Swatting them away we inspected the carcass for evidence of gunshot wounds but failed to locate one, possibly due to the position in which the elephant had fallen. Hair and tissue samples were taken to be analysed in order to assess the diet of the elephant and establish its identity. Chris, however, could tell us the elephant was a male and around 25 years old.
As if that sight was not harrowing enough, we dodged some more acacia to locate the second carcass. This elephant had been dead for around a week and had decomposed to an even greater, and no less pungent, extent. To prevent vultures from feasting on the remains they had been covered in branches. The mandible had been stripped down and we saw from the molar teeth that this elephant was a female. Overwhelmed by the scene what we naively mistook to be some dried up earth in actual fact turned out to be the sole of her foot.
Understandably, the experience was shocking for both of us. It was difficult to comprehend how such majestic creatures had been cut down and ruthlessly reduced to this condition by humans. It really brings home how poaching continues threaten the existence of the African elephant and highlights the importance of the work conducted here at STE.