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Burrard-Lucas was already embarking on a project with the Tsavo trust photographing elephants in the area of Tsavo.
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While he was studying the area, he learnt about F_MU1 AKA the Queen of Elephants. He was told she has a gentle temperament and is a very majestic creature.
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After a search lasting several days, they finally found her, here is how he recalls it:
“Over the bushes I caught a glimpse of an elephant’s back and seconds later she stepped out into the open. I was speechless. F_MU1 was skinny and old but she strode forward with stately grace. Her tusks were so long that they scraped the ground in front of her. She was like a relic from a bygone era.”
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They spent the whole day with her, she led them to her local watering hole where she patiently waited her turn to bathe.
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Every picture captured the queen’s true majesty, every wrinkle representing a victory of time against the dangers of poaching, droughts and other natural threats, she made it this far.
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Unfortunately, she passed away just weeks after Burrard-Lucas captured these photos, most likely due to natural causes. Thankfully, these photos immortalize her.
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She has made the cover for Burrard Lucas’s book, Land of Giants, which covers several years of elephant living in the region of Tvaso.
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Her long and prosperous life is certainly a testament to the hard work that the Tsavo Trust and the Kenyan Wildlife Services put in to protect these glorious animals.
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Burrard Lucas recalls the experience, “as a wildlife photographer, a subject like F_MU1 is incredibly rare; a creature that is unique–possibly the most remarkable of her kind–and yet an animal that few have photographed before. The time I spent with her was a real privilege.”
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You can read even more about his experience with this African elephant on his blog.
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The final result is Land of Giants, a book filled with photos of the big tusk elephants living in Tsavo.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKyhc4YiWtU46QwTBDCwjm5cZ4-qFeKDGSRcGoFhjdE156ubBAGHmCMuraOwIVserhjNc7ClD3HnHgtpcJLh4Gs3s1l6APHioZhoiWnaq6e9WLAQdueoDgJCe3-Fdp9QVXzbEOVcqntBSw6vTbb95fXHzLszh8gs-gRNfxaIn7ASQ22dJDcDdOTzRTw/s16000/14.jpg)
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