Ahmed the elephant has held a special place in the hearts of those who love elephants, and Kenyans who have known of his legacy as one of the most iconic tuskers who ever roamed the wilds of Africa. 

What made him unique was his protected status by a President who recognized his value to a nation, and in due time, to the world.

Join KTN News Kenya (archived footage) as they remember Ahmed the elephant who will forever remain a symbol of Africa’s ongoing fight against poaching.

 

 

News Anchor Jim: “…who is at the Nairobi National Park. Rita, you’ve been holding briefs for us for the last two days or so. What do you have in store for us tonight?”

Rita: “Well, Jim Smart, it is the story of Ahmed and tonight we are walking down memory lane with the country’s early crusade against poaching. In 1970 the then President Jomo Kenyatta ordered round-the-clock protection for unique elephant Ahmed.” 

Ahmed who had unusually long tusks died four years later and Jomo Kenyatta issued a decree that his remains be preserved as a symbol of the fight against poaching.”

 

 

 

 

“Well earlier in the day I had the chance to see the remains of that legendary elephant including his real tusks. Here is Ahmed’s story.”

“At the National Museums of Kenya headquarters in Nairobi stands this fiberglass model of an elephant. But this is not a cast of just any African bush elephant. This is a life-size look-alike of Ahmed. Yes, Ahmed the legendary elephant, arguably Kenya’s most famous elephant.”

“Inside the National Museum main display hall Ahmed’s real skeleton complete with his real tusks is on display some 39 years (archived footage) after he died.”

 

 

 “Ahmed was born around the year 1919 in the Marsabit National Reserve. His tusks grew to a length where they almost touched the ground.” 

 

Sahara Dahir (Principal Curator, NMK): “The elephants in Marsabit were known and they were called Big Tuskers.  He was very unique in the sense that his body, his tusks were big, and his body was small.  In proportion to his body his tusks were too big.” 

 

 

Rita: “His distinct long tusks, each said to weigh about 68 kilograms, earned him the title ‘the King of Marsabit’ and his big assets made the King a prime target for poachers during an era where poaching led to near decimation of the Kenyan elephant population.”

 “Animal lovers started a campaign to have Ahmed protected from the hands of poachers. The campaign caught the attention of Kenya’s founding father (unintelligible) Jomo Kenyatta who declared Ahmed a national treasure in need of extra protection.” 

 

Sahara Dahir (Principal Curator, NMK): “24/7, day, night, he was guarded by rangers.”

 

 

 

Source (1)

 

 

Rita: “The then-president was later to begin his own crusade to protect elephants. To date Ahmed is the only wild animal in the country to have received such individual protection. For four years wherever he roamed two rangers were in tow day and night.” 

“One morning in 1974 he died. Experts say Ahmed, then estimated to be 55 years-old, died of natural causes   Following his death Jomo Kenyatta issued a decree that his remains be preserved…” 

 

Sahara Dahir (Principal Curator, NMK): “for future generations to learn what poaching can do and what we lose when elephants are killed and how such a unique animal, if it was killed, you will not see the tusks, you are not able to study the sizes of the tusks.”

 

Rita: “Close to four decades later Ahmed stands as an iconic symbol of the fight against poaching in the country, a fight that is yet to be won.” (1)

 

 

Images and transcribed from: FULL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO  ktn news kenya yt ch cc video “Meet Ahmed the elephant at Nairobi National park”  (1)

 

 

Source: 

(1) KTN News Kenya   https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kenya%E2%80%99s+Ahmed+the+Elephant+goes+Green+on+St+Patricks+Day+Creative+Commons

 

 

Elephant Spoken Here Facebook  

Elephant Spoken Here twitter now called X @ESHelephants