Africa Wild

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Ek moet net deel. Dit was amazing om Ndlovane te kon sien vandag!

Elize Oberholzer From the Sanparks Tuskers: Origin of Name: ‘Ndlovane’ meaning ‘Small Elephant’ has been given to this elephant not for his size but for his young age and great potential to develop into a future great tusker.

Special Features: This bull has several distinguishing features some being more prominent then others. On the left ear lobe towards the bottom there are several small nodules and holes in the lobe, with a few additional nicks and nodules further up the ear which are only notable on very close inspection. The right ear lobe has a few more distinctive markings; a R0.10 hole is visible towards the bottom and middle of the lobe. Towards the top of the lobe is an inverted u-shape piece of lobe caused by two shallow u-shaped indentations in the lobe. The tusks of this bull are irregular shaped and very similar in shape to those of Ngonyama for whom this bull is often mistaken. The right tusk is straighter and longer in appearance to the left tusk which is curved forward giving the illusion of a shorter tusk. Side profiles of the ivory give the appearance of the tusks being very closer together much like Ngonyama however from a front view they are more splayed. This bull’s ivory is not as splayed as Ngonyama but the side and front profiles are similar enough to cause confusion. A slightly less notable characteristic is a remarkable lack of tail hair.
General: The first clear series of images showing this bulls’ identifying features and confirming his status as a new tusker was submitted by Kruger National Parks staff member Coenie Coetzer in 2014. This series allowed the linking of other sightings by Marc Moon in 2013 and Elize Olivier in 2012. These previous submissions were considered valuable enough to open monitoring files but due to the angle of the bull or image quality the defining characteristics could not be fully determined.

This bull is often mistaken for Ngonyama as the tusk shape is very similar, however the distinctive hole in the left ear lobe, thickening on the trunk as well as growths on the rear are not visible in this bull and as mentioned previously indicated the ivory on this bull is closer together.

Sightings of this bull increased dramatically in 2014 - 2016 leading to the decision to name him and confirm his status as an emerging tusker.