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The Prince of Wales has offered his condolences following the death of renowned elephant conservationist Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who passed away at his Nairobi home on Monday at the age of 83.
Douglas-Hamilton dedicated his life to the study and protection of African elephants, becoming a globally recognized authority on their behavior in their natural habitat.
His pioneering research brought to light the devastating impact of poaching – often at considerable personal risk – and played a crucial role in the international ban on the ivory trade.
Prince William lauded the zoologist as “a man who dedicated his life to conservation and whose life’s work leaves lasting impact on our appreciation for, and understanding of, elephants.”
“The memories of spending time in Africa with him will remain with me forever,” added Prince William, who serves as a royal patron for Tusk, the African wildlife conservation charity, where Douglas-Hamilton was an ambassador.
“The world has lost a true conservation legend today, but his extraordinary legacy will continue,” stated Tusk founder Charles Mayhew.
Born in 1942 to a British aristocratic family in Dorset, England, Douglas-Hamilton pursued studies in biology and zoology in Scotland and at Oxford before relocating to Tanzania to study elephant social dynamics.
It was at Lake Manyara National Park that he began meticulously documenting each elephant he encountered, eventually developing such a deep familiarity with the herds that he could identify them by the unique characteristics of their ears and skin.
“The thing about elephants is that they have a lot in common with human beings,” he reflected in the 2024 documentary about his work, “A Life Among Elephants.”
Fellow conservationist Jane Goodall, who passed away in October and was featured in the documentary, noted that he demonstrated to the world elephants’ capacity for emotions akin to those of humans.
“I think his legacy will be one of a man who did so much to help people understand how majestic, how wonderful elephants are, and to learn more about their way of life,” Goodall commented.
His work was not without peril; he faced charges from elephants, narrowly escaped death from a bee swarm, and was shot at by poachers. In 2010, a flood devastated his Kenyan research facility, resulting in the loss of years of research.
Despite these challenges, Douglas-Hamilton remained resolute in his commitment to raising awareness about the plight of African elephants, emerging as a leading voice in alerting the world to the ivory poaching crisis, which he characterized as “an elephant holocaust.”
He subsequently campaigned for an international prohibition on the commercial ivory trade, leading to the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 1989, a landmark international agreement among governments.
When the agreement failed to completely eradicate the trade, Douglas-Hamilton shifted his focus to China and the US, the primary ivory markets. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-US President Barack Obama reached an agreement on a near-total ban on its import and export.
In 1993, Douglas-Hamilton founded Save the Elephants, a charity dedicated to protecting the animals and enhancing human understanding of their behavior.
The organization’s CEO, Frank Pope, who is also his son-in-law, remarked: “Iain changed the future not just for elephants, but for huge numbers of people across the globe. His courage, determination and rigour inspired everyone he met.”
In his own words, Douglas-Hamilton expressed optimism regarding the future of his life’s work.
“I think my greatest hope for the future is that there will be an ethic developed of human-elephant coexistence,” he once stated.
Iain Douglas-Hamilton is survived by his wife Oria, children Saba and Dudu, and six grandchildren.
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