Tuskers of Kruger Discussions & Identification

[aat]

Flutterby,
If you send the pics to me I can add to the south section for potential tuskers so we can follow him how he devellops. Shape of his tusks (inward curved) looks like south_01 but he is a different bull.

[quote="Flutterby"]I posted these pics already and you could not ID him but he's definitely a potential big tusker. We saw him near Hippo Pools in August 2013.

[Flutterby]

[aat]

@ ALL
How to ID a Tusker ? Just some of you have this question in mind

I just added a new potential tusker to the new section on the tusker site.
Because of the very good quality of the pictures. I like to show you how you can ID a tusker by presenting two different pictures of the same potential tusker. One made in december 2012 (Richard Brett) and the other in january 2014 (Willie Knoetze)

- december 2012


- january 2014


Depending on the available pictures I could conclude this is the same potential tusker by the following ID arguments

Identification:
1 - Notch in right ear, but also the ear folds

2 - Grass notch on right tusk
Grass notches will devellop in time and can be one of the reasons the tip of the tusk can break
Here too you can how it devellops in time , looking at Richard Bretts picture (december 2012 and Wille Knoetze's picure (january 2014)

3 - Trunk marks and bumps on trunk
Bumps can disappear over time or getting smaller, like you can see at the picture by Wille Knoetze (about 2 years later)

The trunk marks are also like a fingerprint of a bull. the combination of lines and folds and sometimes bumps make the trunk unique

4 - Bump(s) at body (right side)
Bumps can be caused by fights or other kind of injuries. They can almost disappear in time but it's also possible they will be visible for many years

Please understand that it is not always this easy. Pictures can be made from different angles, at different distances, different light and the tusker can just keep his ears close to his body and / or moving his trunk in different positions.
You can understand that getting larger format pictures are often required to detect smaller holes or notches in the ear or yes / no making a grass notch visible.
So... if you meet a tusker try to get pictures from different angles and disances (using zoom), ear and tusk details can be very helpfull.

This ID lesson is for free unless I meet you in kruger , then a beer will be ok

[Flutterby]

Thanks aat, so I guess I owe you a beer in Satara!

[100ponder]

Wonderful photos of a excellent bull.

One more aspect that could be useful for ID is the elephant's tail which often has unique features.

The tail tuft is a fairly good indicator to determine if a bull in the prime of his life or getting on in years. The old men usually start balding like some of us and real old bulls quite often have a completely bald tail tip.

[Flutterby]

We saw this big boy on the H9 on 22/04/2014. His right tusk is longer than the left and he has two small holes in his left ear. We thought it might be Kaleka but Aat wasn't so sure.

[Richprins]

Nice, Flutts!

So you spotted a tusker and aat in one trip!?

[Flutterby]

Yep, we did!

[100ponder]

Hi Flutterby,

Very good tusker you have seen !

In all likeliness he is Ngonyama, his tusks match in length, thickness, curvature and both tusks have sharp, rather unblemished tips with no grass notches.

Another clue is the tiny hole in the extreme lower tip of the left ear.

The tuft of tail hair on your photos also match this feature on Aat's website.

The area where you saw this tusker also coincides with Ngonyama's stomping grounds.

Compare these features with the photos on Aat's TUSKERSOFAFRICA.

The two small holes higher up on the left ear must be new markings.

Good to see this tusker popping up regularly.

Gerrie.

[Toko]

Thank you for the detailed explanation, Gerrie