Before dawn settled over the open plains and swamps of Amboseli National Park, an unusual stillness spread across the landscape where elephants usually gather at first light. Kenya Wildlife Service rangers stood watch through the night beside a lone, weakening bull elephant whose immense body showed the strain of age and exhaustion. At 3:32 am on January 3, 2026, Craig, one of Africa’s last legendary super tuskers, lay down for the final time and did not rise again.
Craig was 54 years old, far older than most wild bull elephants, and his passing marked more than the loss of an individual animal. With tusks that nearly touched the ground and weighed around 45 kilograms each, he represented a vanishing genetic lineage that once defined Africa’s elephant populations. Veterinarians and conservationists believe Craig died from complications related to old age, including severely worn teeth that left him unable to process enough food, combined with the stresses of a changing and increasingly unforgiving environment.
Born in January 1972 to a matriarch named Cassandra of Amboseli’s closely studied CB elephant family, Craig stood out early in life. His tusks grew larger and faster than those of his peers, earning him the rare status of a super tusker. Today, only an estimated 20 to 30 such elephants remain across the entire African continent. Craig survived the brutal poaching waves of the 1970s and 1980s, when elephants with the largest tusks were systematically targeted for ivory. His survival came to symbolise the success of long-term protection and law enforcement in Kenya.
Over the decades, Craig became an ambassador for elephant conservation. Calm and tolerant of human presence, he was frequently photographed against the dramatic backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro, drawing tourists, filmmakers, scientists, and conservationists from around the world. Maasai guides and community scouts knew his movements intimately, and stories of the “gentle giant of Amboseli” travelled far beyond East Africa. In 2021, his fame grew further when he was featured by East African Breweries’ Tusker brand, highlighting how iconic wildlife can mobilise public awareness and private support for conservation.
For scientists, however, Craig’s death carries deeper implications. Conservation geneticists warn that the loss of super tuskers represents a serious erosion of genetic diversity. Elephants play a crucial ecological role by shaping landscapes, dispersing seeds, opening water sources, and maintaining savannah woodlands. Large-tusked elephants, researchers say, are especially important because their tusks allow them to dig deep for water during droughts, reach underground minerals, and access roots and food sources unavailable to smaller elephants.
Decades of selective poaching have already altered elephant genetics across Africa, favouring smaller tusks or even tusklessness. While such traits may help elephants survive intense ivory pressure, they come at the cost of genetic richness that has evolved over thousands of years. Scientists caution that losing rare genetic traits may reduce elephants’ ability to adapt to future environmental stress, especially as climate change intensifies.
Climate pressure is already reshaping the landscapes elephants depend on. In Amboseli and across East Africa, prolonged droughts are drying wetlands and reducing the quality of forage. Rainfall patterns have become increasingly erratic, with longer dry spells followed by intense rains that disrupt plant growth cycles. Older elephants like Craig are particularly vulnerable, as their large bodies require substantial and consistent nutrition. Rangers observed Craig’s steady physical decline in his final months as his teeth wore down and the nutrient-rich swamps he once relied on offered diminishing returns.
Human pressures add another layer of complexity. Amboseli’s elephants move across lands shared with pastoralist communities, where expanding settlements, livestock grazing, and farming have narrowed traditional migration routes. While Craig was widely respected for his calm behaviour, other elephants often come into conflict with people when crops are raided or grazing lands are damaged. Conservationists argue that maintaining wildlife corridors connecting Amboseli to Tanzania’s ecosystems is essential to reduce conflict, support genetic exchange, and allow elephants to respond to climate stress.
Protecting these corridors, however, requires cross-border cooperation, strong land-use planning, and meaningful engagement with local communities. Funding gaps, political challenges, and competing development priorities continue to undermine these efforts. Researchers tracking elephant populations across Kenya and Tanzania warn that conservation success can no longer be measured only by elephant numbers, but by the health, diversity, and resilience of populations.
Craig’s death has prompted an outpouring of grief from conservationists, local communities, and wildlife lovers around the world. For those who worked alongside him, he was more than a symbol. Rangers recall spending his final nights at his side, staying with him as his strength faded. To them, Craig embodied both the promise and the limits of protection in a rapidly changing Africa.
Scientists caution that the genetic legacy of super tuskers cannot easily be replaced. Once rare genetic traits disappear, restoring them is nearly impossible. As Africa’s climate warms and landscapes fragment further, the loss of giants like Craig narrows the options elephants have for adapting to an uncertain future.
Craig’s story, conservationists say, should not end in nostalgia. Instead, it must serve as a warning and a call to action. Without stronger regional cooperation, sustained investment in habitat protection, climate adaptation, and community-led conservation, Africa risks losing not only its largest elephants, but the ecological and genetic foundations that allow the species to endure.