What's The Meaning Of Matriarch

What animals might teach the states about living longer

What animals might teach u.s.a. about living longer 04:21

Africa'south largest female tusker elephant has died. Dida, who is considered the matriarch of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, died from natural causes this calendar week, Kenya Wildlife Service said. She was believed to be betwixt 60 and 65 years old.

"Dida was a truly an iconic matriarch of Tsavo and a smashing repository of many decades worth of noesis," Kenya Wildlife Service said. "She shepherded her herd through many seasons and challenging times."

Dida was a tusker elephant, meaning she had tusks so large they scraped the basis. At that place are simply about 25 or so tuskers left in the world, well-nigh of which reside in the Tsavo Conservation Area, according to the Tsavo Trust, which was founded in 2013 to assist protect tuskers, which are extremely rare and at risk from poachers.

These large tusks are especially noteworthy on females, so Dida stood out every bit an iconic matriarch in the park.

Last year, the Trust lost track of Dida and idea she might accept wandered to an "elephant graveyard." While it said these are non the "dark, haunting" places depicted in "The Panthera leo Rex," older elephants will sometimes separate themselves from the herd when they are dying. "We are unsure exactly why this happens and information technology certainly isn't a rule that all elephant follow as they approach their terminate, but information technology definitely does occur," the Trust said.

Their hope for Dida was restored when a tourist snapped a photo of her terminal May. The elephant appeared to be in good health and was seen with others, even playing with a young elephant.

"She lived longer than many of united states of america thought she would. To us, allowing an elephant to alive its full life is something we are very proud of," the Trust wrote in a statement nearly Dida's expiry on Instagram.

The Trust said it didn't have data more recent than 2016 about the country of elephants in Africa, merely was "encouraged past the positive anti-poaching results" recently reported by neighboring Tanzania.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature attempts an African elephant report every 10 years. The most contempo report in 2016 showed the were 415,000 elephants in Africa — decreasing by 93,000 since 2006, only this number could vary because some elephants are unaccounted for.

CBS News has reached out to Tsavo E National Park and the Tsavo Trust for more information on Dida and is awaiting response.