世界最巨型大象慘死 超長象牙招殺身之禍

Satao was about 45 years old and believed to have been one the largest living elephants in the world.

約45歲的大象薩陶曾經被認爲是世界上存活的最大的大象之一。

Satao was an elephant famous for having tusks so long that they nearly reached the ground, and so distinct, that he could be easily identified from the air as he roamed Kenya's vast Tsavo East National Park.

薩陶因爲它那幾乎長可及地的象牙而聞名。外形顯眼的薩陶在肯尼亞東察沃國家公園漫步時，可以輕鬆的被飛行員識別出來。

Now, Satao is dead, slain by ivory poachers who used poison arrows to bring the great elephant down. Once Satao was in their clutches, the poachers hacked off his legendary tusks and much of his face, the Tsavo Trust announced on Facebook and Twitter.

如今，薩陶被象牙偷獵者殺害了。致力於查沃地區野生動物保護的非營利性機構查沃信託稱，偷獵者們用毒箭放倒了薩陶，隨後砍下了它那傳奇性的象牙和大部分面部。

Although Satao was killed on May 30, and his corpse found on June 2, he was so badly mutilated that it took nearly 10 days to confirm that it was indeed the beloved elephant.

薩陶在5月30日被殺害，屍體於6月2日被發現。但因爲屍體被嚴重毀壞，人們花了近10天才確認它確實是倍受人們喜愛的的象王薩陶。

"Today it is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries," the nonprofit organization said in a statement. "A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece."

查沃信託在聲明中說，“今天我們確認薩陶已經死於象牙偷獵者的毒箭，對此我們深表遺憾。 它死於那些遙遠國家裏對象牙貪得無厭的追求。一個偉大的生命逝去了， 遠方某人的壁爐上可以多個飾品了。”