This behavior served as a warning; poachers knew of Satao, and Satao’s peculiar behavior indicated he knew of poachers. He would often appear to hide his ivory behind a bush or behind the askaris that traveled with him, as though he knew that humans were after it. Moller believes that poachers loitering just past the Park boundary noticed him, and formulated a plan. A tusker with ivory of that size, about $1,500, would be worth the risk of breaching the Park’s electric fences under the cover of nightfall.

During Satao’s last two months alive, as poachers plotted to take him down, conservation filmmakers Mark Deeble, Vicky Stone and The Elephant Movie crew joined the Great Elephant Census production team to film some of the last incredible footage of Satao. On May 30th, Satao was shot with a poisoned arrow. The arrow penetrated deep into his hide and eventually wore him down. His face was hacked off by poachers, and his carcass was left rotting in a clearing. He was found covered in carrion feces only . It took weeks to positively identify Satao’s remains.

Satao’s remains, May 30, 2014.

Mark Deeble is still in Tsavo; still filming and collecting the stories of Tsavo’s iconic elephants to share with the world through his project, The Elephant Movie. As the one-year anniversary of Satao’s death approaches, Mark visited the site of Satao’s remains and posted a moving blog about his experience. With permission from Mark Deeble and Vicky Stone we are including an excerpt, but for anyone who loves elephants and knew of the iconic Satao, please go to Mark’s Wordpress and read the entire article (and try not to cry).

“It was late in the afternoon and I had to get back before dark, but I was loathe to leave. It started to rain. I hunkered down beneath the Boscia bush and remembered Satao. The rain eased and I stood and stretched. I could hear distant goats — I couldn’t help but feel that humanity was pushing in on elephants. Beyond the fence had once been some of the best elephant country in Africa, but we’d not seen a single elephant out there in the three years we’d flown it, only the smudge of illegal charcoal kilns, as every year there were fewer trees. As the sun tried to push through the clouds, and I looked around and prepared to leave, a pair of butterflies alighted — their folded lime-white underwings somehow perfect against the dark stain that had once been Africa’s most magnificent elephant. As they uncurled their probosces and started to suck minerals, I thought of how Satao was returning to the ecosystem that produced him — sip by tiny sip.” -Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, The Elephant Movie

Satao left an indelible imprint on all who he encountered. People like Richard Moller, Mark Deeble, and Vicky Stone, who remain in Tsavo working tirelessly to share the stories of Tsavo’s elephants. But we don’t just want to remember them after they are gone. The Great Elephant Census flies on, over 50% of surveys are complete, and once all the flights are complete the final report will provide an accurate pan-African count that can help guide NGOs and governments toward meaningful elephant conservation strategies. There has not been a pan-African census since the 1970s. The Great Elephant Census final report will bring clarity to the question of how many savanna elephants are left across 80% of their known range.

While it is a terrible tragedy that another iconic tusker was killed, we take comfort knowing that his genes may be found in many young elephants throughout the park. After all, Satao lived 50 years. If his children are able to grow up, perhaps, with the help of anti-poaching initiatives and anti-ivory legislation born from the data shared by the Great Elephant Census and the awareness spread by The Elephant Movie, we will see Satao reflected in a new generation of elephants. Perhaps some of the anonymous elephants counted during the Census are the progeny of Satao, and perhaps a future film, “The Sons of Satao”, will share the story of this great tusker’s legacy.

You can donate to Tsavo Trust to help the Big Tusker Project.

To find out more about The Elephant Movie, you can read Mark’s blog or follow The Elephant Movie on Facebook for updates.

Learn more about the Great Elephant Census, and read other blogs about why we #count2save.

Follow the conversation about Satao on Twitter, follow us @ElephantCount and use the hashtag #RememberSatao

The Great Elephant Census would like to express their gratitude to Richard Moller from Tsavo Trust and Mark Deeble and Vicky Stone from The Elephant Movie for their help with this blog.