Google is celebrating Ahmed the elephant better known in the 1970s as the King of Marsabit.
Ahmed first became a pop culture legend in the 1960s after being spotted by hikers in the Northern Kenya mountains.
Hikers who spotted the elephant claimed Ahmed’s tusks were so large they scraped the ground.
Soon enough, the legend took hold across Kenya.
In 1970, Ahmed became the subject of many television projects, including an ABC series, “The American Sportsman” and a French documentary on the work of conservationist Iain Douglas-Hamilton.
His rise in pop culture inspired schoolchildren to campaign for Ahmed’s protection from poachers.
The letters were sent to President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who placed Ahmed under his protection by Presidential Decree. Ahmed was the first elephant to be protected by presidential decree in Kenya. And from then on, two security guards watched over him day and night to preserve his life.
Kenya celebrated his legacy after Ahmed died of natural causes at age 55. President Kenyatta ordered taxidermists to preserve Ahmed at the Nairobi National Museum for future generations.
He can still be seen there today.
