Mark Deeble is a photographer and writer who focuses on African wildlife. His work helps to document the presence of what is fast disappearing, the large bull elephants with nearly perfect tusks.
This particular Iconic Bull was called Satao.
He was recently poached, along with a number of other bulls.
Poaching kills one elephant every fifteen minutes. At that rate, there will be no elephants left in Africa by 2025. The iconic image of the elephant, large bulls like Satao, are under the most pressure from poachers. Poaching ivory for trinkets is unforgivable in and of itself; the fact that poachers help provide funding for groups like Boko Haram gives the problem another dimension.
And it's not only the loss of one bull when an icon like Satao is killed. Male elephants roam either independently or in "bachelor herds". They are responsible for the genetic diversity among elephant populations because they connect with breeding females anywhere in their travels. For every breeding bull killed, there are also future generations obliterated.
The world is in such a state that it's difficult to devote time to every single problem that comes to our notice. Some problems need to be looked at now, though, before the chance to focus slips away.
IWorry - Say No to Ivory
Elephant Voices
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Elephants Without Borders