Tuskers of Kruger Discussions & Identification

[nan]

[aat]

Sad to get the confirmation that Masthulele has passed away.

Not a surprise because he hasn't been seen for a very long time. The last pictures on my site (made december 2015) showed him very thin and are probably the last pictures of him. He died somewhere in 2016. Real cause will be unknown , some say because of a bull fight but looking at the last pictures of him he was thin and weak.

Tusk info:
Left
Length (cm) 234cm
Mass (kg) 51kg
Circumference at Lip (cm) 49.5cm

Right
Length (cm) 245cm
Mass (kg) 54kg
Circumference at Lip (cm) 49.5cm

I only can say R.I.P. and it also motivates me to go on with the tuskers with special focus on the Potential ones to get them documented and follow them as long as possible.

Next to Masthulele I also think that several other tuskers have been passed away like Nwashinangana.

Last picture of Masthulele made in december 2015:

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I saw him in May 2011 just in front of the restaurant in Letaba.

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[nan]

thank you for all the info here

[okie]

Yes , I agree with you aat He was quite emaciated

[Lisbeth]

He really looks bad off in the first pinture and like Okie I think that you are right. Nobody would pick a fight with someone looking like that

[Richprins]

Thanks, aat! Ja, very sick...

[100ponder]

KNP staff find a set of very big tusks in the bush, they cannot ID the tusks (why not ?), they cart the tusks to the ivory store for safe keeping where the tusks have been gathering dust for months - mmmm, I see. . . . .

I would have thought such extraordinary tusks are worth displaying in the museum ? ?

Maybe I am wrong to expect SANPARKS to recognise such tusks as VERY special and worth preserving as a South African heritage item?

Does storing such tusks in the ivory store together with hundreds of other “pick-up” tusks equate to them having been destined to become part of the next ivory sale ?
( To become trinkets in Vietnam or China ?)

HEY ! ! ! - I an talking about Masthulele's tusks ! ! !


PS :-
And people feel sad about a big tusker that was hunted in Zambia, at least that tusker will be remembered and the tusks will be preserved for prosperity.
( See page 21 of the “Africa's Giant Tuskers Thread”.)

[Lisbeth]

Ignorance must be reigning in Kruger among the people on the ground

[okie]

KNP staff find a set of very big tusks in the bush, they cannot ID the tusks (why not ?), they cart the tusks to the ivory store for safe keeping where the tusks have been gathering dust for months - mmmm, I see. . . . .

Or maybe they do not report it and then cart it off someplace else

[100ponder]

But one plus for KNP field staff - they did find and recover Masthulele's tusks.

Not like Isilo's tusks that were apparently lost as a poacher's pick-up.
( Really ? Such an iconic tusker and Tembe field staff did not know his where-abouts – mmmmmm, I see . . . .)