Satao resided in Tsavo National Park in the Southeast corner of Kenya and bore the area’s name where he mostly roamed. Tsavo has the distinct honour of being an existing and viable breeding ground for one of the rarest and most extraordinary creatures on Earth, the Super Tusker elephant. These colossal African elephants bear ivory weighing an incredible 100 lbs or more each tusk. Celebrated for its stories of man-eating lions and esteemed for its famous elephants covered in red dust, Tsavo permeates tranquillity in the African wilderness with the privilege of observing Tuskers in their natural environment. Magnificent Satao was chief among these elite few Super Tuskers and commanded respect from his compatriots.

On the 30th of May 2014, poachers brutally slayed Satao and extracted his ivory. An arrow smeared with Acokanthera poison pierced his left flank and Satao succumbed to his wounds in a remote corner of Tsavo where he had migrated to find fresh water after recent storms. Satao, born in the late 1960s, lived long enough to extend his Super Tusker genes multiple times through further generations. With the demise of Satao there were only 25 giant tuskers left on the whole continent of Africa, and just 11 surviving in Kenya.