Matt, Kenya’s famous elephant dies aged 52

Matt, which is one of Kenya’s largest tuskers and a celebrated African Savanna elephant, has died at the age of 52.

The elephant died of what has been termed as a natural cause and it was one of Kenya’s oldest elephants.

As a dominant bull elephant, Matt would make yearly journeys from his resting area, east of the Matthew’s Range to the Samburu National Reserve where he could find females in oestrus. He appeared in numerous nature documentary series including the BBC’s ‘This Wild Life’ and ‘Secret Lives of Elephants and ‘Nature’s Epic Journeys’. 

According to a statement from Save the Elephants, which has been tracking the movements of the most standing-attraction elephant, they highlighted that Matt had roamed a longer distance than any other elephant in Kenya.

Save the Elephants is an organisation that works to secure a future for elephants in Africa by carrying out elephant research, providing scientific insights into elephant behavior and intelligence.

“During his lifetime he roamed further than any other Kenya elephant nearly circumventing Mount Kenya from Meru all the way to Laikipia, a continuous east to west loop of approximately 245km. His travels also took him northward across Samburu for a stretch of 220km,” said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Save the Elephants Founder

Trust 9-1 anti-poaching unit reported that the elephant died on Monday in Northern Rangelands with the reports having conveyed to Kenya Wildlife Services headquarters. 

According to Save the Elephant, Matt was collared with a GPS tracking collar in 2002 so researchers could monitor and study his behavior and rangers could protect him from poachers. Matt’s range turned out to span all the way from Meru National Park on the Tana River, through three national reserves including Samburu, and half a dozen community conservancies to the West of the elephants’ range

“With his large size and spectacular tusks, Matt’s survived and thrived during the high-risk poaching epidemic a decade ago; a testament to his adaptation and local knowledge. The crisis killed an estimated 100,000 elephants across Africa in just three years, between 2010 and 2012,” says Iain Douglas-Hamilton

The elephant was measuring 10 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing over 6 tons by the time of its death.

“Matt was no ordinary bull; his curiosity always kept researchers on their toes and he was a master at shredding tracking collars that kept him in the spotlight.  Matt’s last collar was fitted in March 2016, and for the next three years until last week, his position was recorded every hour for his protection and for the collection of important data,” he adds

However, Matt has left genes. The elephant had become well known by the Samburu people living in the village of Serolipi as peaceful towards human beings.