5 min read Beloved Wild Elephant Was Just Shot Dead By A Hunter There are only 25 elephants left like him in the world.

A beloved elephant with beautiful tusks was shot dead by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe late last month — and people everywhere are mourning the loss. Called a "big tusker" because of his long tusks that practically reached the ground, the bull elephant was being studied by researchers who had fitted him with a radio collar. But that didn't save his life. And there could be as few as 25 big tuskers left on the planet.

Zimbabwe: Huge Gonarezhou Elephant Killed By Russian Hunter. The giant elephant was collared for research purposes. https://t.co/HWgczl3Ta0 pic.twitter.com/1pJFQoEm4m — La voix des animaux (@Voixdesanimaux) March 27, 2018

“There is no law that protects a collared animal from being hunted in Zimbabwe," the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), which was studying the animal, wrote in a statement about the animal's death. "But there is general acceptance that the ethical position is that a hunter will avoid shooting an animal with a collar." Because of the ivory trade and habitat loss, elephants are dying far faster than they are being born — if nothing changes, they could go extinct in our lifetime. The death of a big tusker removes strong genetic strands from the gene pool, further threatening elephants. "In trophy hunts, the elephants sought out are large males with big tusks as these make for the more ‘impressive’ kill," a spokesperson from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT), an organization that helps elephants by raising calves orphaned by poachers, told The Dodo. "However, these older males are in fact the primary breeders and their size and age is in itself an indicator of their genetic health. Taking out these males removes this strong gene pool from wild populations, compromising the next generation of a species already in worrying decline."

Big tusker elephant in Africa | Shutterstock