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News > Kenya

Kenya: Africa's Largest Female Elephant Dies a Natural Death

  • Dida was between 60 and 65 years old and died naturally of old age. Nov, 1, 2022.

    Dida was between 60 and 65 years old and died naturally of old age. Nov, 1, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@AshaFox_

Published 1 November 2022
Opinion

Dida, Africa's largest female tusker, has died "naturally of old age."

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed Dida's death on Tuesday. Dida was between 60 and 65 years old and "died of natural causes due to old age," the KWS said on Twitter.

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The elephant reached the upper limit of life expectancy for a free-ranging elephant. She lived in Tsavo East National Park, located in Kenya's coastal province between the city of Nairobi and Mombasa.

In a statement, the KWS said, "Dida was a truly iconic matriarch of Tsavo and a great repository of knowledge of many decades." "She shepherded her flock through many seasons and difficult times," being featured in many documentaries.

A census by the country's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife released last year showed a 12 percent increase in the national elephant population from 2014 (32 214 elephants) to 2021 (36 169).

In late September this year, Monsoon, another iconic elephant and matriarch of Samburu's Storms 2 herd, died at the age of 62. Monsoon survived five gunshots during a rampant poaching crisis a decade ago, in which she lost two of her own calves. 

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