Iain Douglas-Hamilton, British zoologist and Save the Elephants founder, dies at 83

NAIROBI, Kenya — Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a British-born zoologist and conservationist who dedicated much of his life to protecting elephants, has died, his Save the Elephants group said Tuesday. He was 83.

Douglas-Hamilton was known for decades of conservation work, which included pioneering trackers and collaring to protect elephants against poaching and the illegal ivory trade. He died on Monday in Kenya, the statement said.

Save the Elephants said he was “instrumental in exposing the ivory poaching crisis" and documenting the destruction of over half of Africa’s elephants in a single decade, "leading up to a crucial intergovernmental decision to ban the international trade in ivory in 1989.”

“Whether sitting quietly among elephants, poring over maps of their movements, or circling abo