世界最巨型大象惨死 超长象牙招杀身之祸

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

约45岁的大象萨陶曾经被认为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.

萨陶因为它那几乎长可及地的象牙而闻名。外形显眼的萨陶在肯尼亚东察沃国家公园漫步时，可以轻松的被飞行员识别出来。

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，萨陶被象牙偷猎者杀害了。致力于查沃地区野生动物保护的非营利性机构查沃信托称，偷猎者们用毒箭放倒了萨陶，随后砍下了它那传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.

萨陶在5月30日被杀害，尸体于6月2日被发现。但因为尸体被严重毁坏，人们花了近10天才确认它确实是倍受人们喜爱的的象王萨陶。

"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."

查沃信托在声明中说，“今天我们确认萨陶已经死于象牙偷猎者的毒箭，对此我们深表遗憾。 它死于那些遥远国家里对象牙贪得无厌的追求。一个伟大的生命逝去了， 远方某人的壁炉上可以多个饰品了。”