Africa Wild

SHIBOTWANA

Characteristics
Left ear: Clean. Right ear: several notches with a loose piece of skin near the centre of the earlobe.
It is huge bull, very impressive size.

Range
Satara

Tuskers of Africa - Shibotwana

February 2013

It was meanwhile close to noon and it started to get hotter and hotter and that did not prevent the birdies from paying us a visit along our way further North to Satara.

Normally we always drive the S125 and back via the S126 but a force from above or a feeling in my stomach told us to stay on the tar road as on top I wanted under all circumstances pay a visit at Nkaya pan this year as I cannot remember having ever visited this place earlier.

But before we even reached same a quite impressive elephant bull still a bit far away made us stop again to be precise an elephant with a single wide spread tusk



who looked quite familiar to me but I only know one elephant with such remarkable tusks and this is Shibotwana so this could not be him.



At the beginning of the sighting he was still a bit far away but whilst feeding from the grass here and there he soon came closer and allowed some great shots



and whilst coming closer the ears got better visible and due to the hole in the left ear and a couple of notches in the right one I realized that I had the honour in seeing this impressive bull now for the fourth time in four different years. It was for sure Shibotwana but unfortunately his right tusk is meanwhile history.



The first time we met him he was quite aggressive and was roughing up an elephant herd and was chasing a couple of cars at Shibotwana waterhole.



The second time was in 2011 where we met him right in front of the Satara camp gate where he was in a neighbouring dispute with a smaller and younger bull about the belongings of fallen marulas, last year we crossed path with him on the Mananga trail where he was once again showing an elephant herd who the real boss is



and today he was a calm and very relaxed bull whose only interest existed in feeding and due to his calmness we allowed him to come closer until he no longer fit into the frame and although it may looked as if we were eye in eye with him our safety distance to him was guaranteed. After Timon took around hundred of pictures we left him and waved good bye with a possible reunion maybe next year.

SHIKOMU

Characteristics
Right ear: small piece of loose skin, Left ear: several notches in the lower part and notch in the center.
Tusks: Almost equal in length and slightly curved.

Range
Letaba - Mopani

Mopani area, October 2016

TSOTSI
Unsure of status, last seen 2010.

Characteristics
U-shaped notch in the right ear with a square notch approx. 15 cm below this. Two small holes on the left ear lobe.
Symmetrical tusks: Left tusk slightly more curved upwards than the right tusk.

Range
Mopani to Letaba.

Tuskers of Africa - Xipembane

TSOTSI

Letaba 2007:

Tsotsi...our first big tusker

XIPEMBANE

Characteristics
Left ear: Notch with loose piece of skin and a hole in the lower part. Right ear: Mainly clean.
Tusks: Left tusk more straight, right tusk curved. Left tusk a bit longer then right one.

Range
Olifants

Tuskers of Africa - Xipembane

BABALALA 2

Characteristics
Both heavy and thick tusks. Chip out of top of the right tusk.
Left ear: Notches at the lower part of the earlobe, larger M- shaped notch near the center. Right ear: V-shaped notch at the lower part, smaller notches with a loose piece of skin near the center.

Range
Shingwedzi - Babalala

Tuskers of Africa - Babalala 2

2009

2011 at Boyela Waterhole!