A lone acacia, known as the Tree of Ténéré, once stood defiantly in northeast Niger. For ages it lived companionless in the vast Sahara desert, the only tree for over 250 miles, until one day, some idiot came along and rammed it with a truck, snapping it in half.
Above: The Tree of Ténéré pictured in 1961
It was, of course, an accident – at least according to reports obtained by Stephen Messenger, who writes about the tree's history, biology and untimely fate over at Tree Hugger. The idiot in question is alleged to have been drunk and following a roadway that traced the old trading routes of the region's caravanners. The driver was, reportedly, neither stopped nor identified. Today a metal sculpture of the fallen acacia stands in its stead. The tree itself is interred at the Niger National Museum....MORE