A German hunter on safari in Zimbabwe reportedly killed an iconic elephant, one of the few remaining in the world with tusks weighing over 100 pounds, earlier this month.

Photos of the huge elephant lying dead at the feet of a western hunter, his massive tusks stretched out in front of him, has drawn outrage from international conservationists.

See also: 40 elephants have been killed with cyanide in Zimbabwe

According to a report from The Telegraph, the elephant was shot on October 8 in a private hunting area just outside Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park by an unnamed German hunter who paid $60,000 for a permit and was accompanied by a local professional hunter. The man had travelled to Zimbabwe on a 21-day game hunt, while the goal of tracking and killing the "Big Five": elephants, leopards, lions, buffalo and rhinoceros.

A South African tourism site, which provided regular updates on the National Parks in the area, said the tusks were estimated to be around 120 lbs.

Local officials are still baffled as to the identity of the large elephant, who is not recorded as having been in the area of Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park. Some speculate that he may have come from nearby Kruger National Park.

Huge tusker killed by hunters in Zimbabwe - elephant rumoured to have come from Kruger: http://t.co/gNVNHDRHFK pic.twitter.com/F14MMpCx1R — Africa Geographic (@africageo) October 15, 2015

Dr. Michelle Henley, senior scientist and researcher at Elephants Alive (formerly known as Save the Elephants South Africa), told African Geographic said that it is possible the bull elephant came from Kruger National Park.

“A tusker was definitely shot but we need to try and find out his origin. Bulls with tusks over 100 lbs and close to 1.5 m in length are considered great tuskers," said Henley. "My initial reaction to the death (of the elephant) is shock and a great sense of sadness. These are living museums of bygone eras."

The Telegraph spoke to a man who helped arrange the hunt, who remained anonymous, but defended his client.

“This was a legal hunt and the client did nothing wrong,” he said. “We hunters have thick skins and we know what the greenies will say. This elephant was probably 60 years old and had spread its seed many many times over.”

Mashable reached out to SSG Safaris, who allegedly organized the hunt near the National Park, but the company has yet to respond. Posts to big-game hunting forums that go back several years detail other SSG hunts in the area that resulted in the killings of other elephants with sizeable tusks.

Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe's Conservation Task Force, told BBC that the elephant could have lived for another 15 years and condemned the hunter for destroying an irreplaceable natural wonder.

"It's hard to swallow that people are just destroying all the majestic animals that we've got in the country," Rodrigues told BBC. "When you see an animal like that, which you haven't seen for years, you should actually put a collar on him and use him as a marketing tool."

The incident is just the latest to outrage environmentalists in Zimbabwe in recent weeks. 40 elephants were discovered last week, dead from cyanide poisoning in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.

A local trust is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the poachers that poisoned the elephants.

Bhejane Trust has offered to assist the Parks investigation team with reward money for information leading to the arrest... Posted by Bhejane Trust on Thursday, October 15, 2015

On Monday, environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri blamed a ban on Zimbabwean elephant sport hunting by the United States for increased poaching.

"All this poaching is because of American policies, they are banning sport hunting. An elephant would cost $120,000 in sport hunting but a tourist pays only $10 to view the same elephant," she said, adding money from sport hunting is crucial in conservation efforts.

Additional reporting from the Associated Press.

