By Dan Kaburu.
NAIROBI,Kenya, Mar, 8 – Kenya’s gigantic Jumbo, nicknamed ‘Big Tim’ was a towering icon of Kenya’s rich and historic wildlife legacy.
The elephant is now most definitely set to be etched in the country and the world’s psyche for years to come, with the government revealing plans to erect a life size monument in its honor at the entrance of the world renown Amboseli National Park.
Tourism cabinet secretary Najib Balala said that at estimated Sh46.5 million will be set aside once approved to realize the big dream in remembrance to an icon of the continent’s savannah.
“Kenya Wildlife Service has submitted a budget to the ministry and it was under review by Tourism Promotion Fund (TPF). The request is under consideration for disbursement,” said Balala.
Already area residents, tourism enthusiast and conservationist have hailed the move as a huge bold step saying that it will boost local tourism and even encourage further conservation efforts.
“We are happy about the having Tim’s statue erected here, it will benefit us as the community. However our desire was to have it erected at a museum within the local community conservancies and not at the entrance of Amboseli National Park. Tim was the friend of the local community”. Said Samuel Kaanki, a resident of Kimana in Amboseli.
Big Tim roamed the scenic Amboseli National Park and died of what the ministry said was natural causes aged 50 years in February 4, 2020.
Tim was known for his long, enormous tusks, which nearly grazed the ground he walked on. Each of he’s tusks are said to have weighed up to 45 kilograms.
A Post-mortem examination results showed that Tim died from a twisted gut.
His remains are preserved at the National Museums of Kenya for exhibition and education purposes.
Former Amboseli senior warden Kenneth Ole Nashuu in an exclusive interview said that he received news of the death of Big Tim from his officers on patrol at 5:30 am with shock on the fateful day.
“The officers on patrol called at 5:30 am to inform me of the death of Big Tim, it was a big shock for me and I left my house immediately heading to the Park”, said Ole Nashuu.
Tim died the same day as former president Daniel Arap Moi, who throughout his 24 years in power championed for conservation efforts after famously taking a stand against poaching by burning 12 tonnes of ivory in July 1989.
The move is said to have forever changed global policy on ivory exports.
Authorities say that big Tim survived death several times throughout his life
He was infamously speared three times by locals after storming several farms according to records.
Another incident in 2018 at the age of 48, Tim is said to have been stranded after being stuck in a swamp within Amboseli.It took the efforts of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers efforts to rescue him.
“After Tim survived death three times after being speared, we collared him to monitor his movements, however, one day Tim came near the KWS offices and dropped the collar,” Added Ole Nashuu.
Ole Nashuu said that Tim was a brilliant and intelligent elephant and after he dropped his collar near KWS offices, they left him to roam freely.
As a towering presence, he was usually the center of attraction with thousands of tourists flocking the Amboseli and community conservancies just to get a glimpse of the majestic jumbo.
Amboseli National Park is famed for having big-tusked elephants.
It is a park that has recorded twin elephant births three times.
The first case was in 1980 when Equinox and Eclipse were born. 38 years later in 2018, an elephant by the name Paru gave birth to twins putting the park on the global radar.
Two years later in 2020, few days after the death of Big Tim, another elephant by the name Angelina gave birth to healthy twins.
“This was like a compensation for the death of Tim,” said locals.
The 392 Square kilometer Amboseli National Park sits at the foothills of Africa’s tallest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, with a population of close to 2,000 elephants which can easily be spotted roaming in the beautiful savannah.
However, community conservancies in Amboseli ecosystem offer dispersal area for the elephants, since the park is too small to accommodate them.
According to the Kenya Wildlife Service Census Report (2021), Kenya is home to a total of 36,280 elephants, representing a 21 percent growth from 2014, when poaching was at its peak.
This increase has been realized due to sustained government crackdown on poaching and illegal ivory trade. With the growing numbers of elephant’s population in Kenya, there is an urgent need to secure more habitats for them.
The increase in elephant’s population proves that poaching is not a major threat any more.
Climate change is also becoming a major threat. Reduced grazing land, drought and unavailability of water are some of the threats the elephants are facing.
The community and conservationists fraternity hopes that one day, another Tim will rule the Amboseli jungle.
The Writer, Dan Kaburu, is an environmental, award winning journalist with K24TV. He has reported extensively on wildlife, climate change and conservation efforts in Kenya, Africa and the world.
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