It’s been 10 days since the death of Craig, Amboseli’s most famous super tusker.

His death was mourned globally, and the social media outpouring of support and consolation has been amazing to see. Reading these personal accounts, it’s obvious that Craig had an extraordinary impact on a huge number of people, regardless of whether they ever saw him in person. People felt a connection with him, beyond simple awe of his magnificent tusks.

Thank you to everyone who tagged us and recognized the role that we played in Craig’s long life. When so many elephants are lost to poachers or human-wildlife conflict, his natural death represents a conservation success.

Decades of ivory poaching and trophy hunting in Africa have selectively removed elephants with the biggest tusks, leaving only a handful. Fewer than 30 survive in East Africa, and 10 call our area of operation home. Craig survived into old age because this ecosystem, and the people protecting it, held the line.

Craig was truly an ambassador for his species.

No one who spent time with him could doubt the sentience of elephants. For many, he bridged the imaginary divide between humans and nature, helping people to realize that there is more to the world than what we might perceive and understand.

He was well-known among local Maasai communities and lived peacefully alongside people, rarely crop-raiding. There will always be conflict where humans and elephants share space, but Craig showed that each elephant is unique and not all are destructive.

Craig was a rare animal, even in a well-protected ecosystem like Amboseli. But his offspring are out there, growing into the tuskers of tomorrow. We’ll do everything we can to ensure they survive to inspire generations far into the future.

📸: Jeremy Goss