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The death of Satao brought in to the limelight the dangers posed by poachers. Satao was one of the few remaining tuskers and according to Researchers from the Amboseli National Park in Northern Kenya, the gene responsible for Satao's large tusks is disappearing. In fact, a very few elephants today posses this gene.
According to conservationist Dr Paula Kahumbu, Director and Founder Wildlife Direct, a Kenyan based conservation Non-Profit Organization, the disappearance of the gene is as a result of the continued poaching of elephants with large tusks, and if nothing is done, this remarkable elephant species will be wiped out of the face of the earth.
Indeed, a large percentage of the African elephant population is made up of elephants with small tusks. This is a trend that has conservationists in Kenya and all over the world worried. It was for this reason that the UN office in Nairobi, Kenya decided to erect an life like effigy of Satao at its compound.
