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With some down time in London, I dropped into the Natural History Museum specifically to see these tusks.

The lady on the Information desk told me - when I asked where they were - that they were not on display because of the issues around ivory. Looking around the museum, I found them in the mammals section.

I am sure they will have been posted and pictured on AR before but here they are again for those that may not have seen them before.


The story is that they were taken by an Arab hunter in East Africa in the 1880s. They measure / weigh 3.11 m and 94 kgs and 3.18 m and 89 kgs. The British meseum purchased the first tusk for GBP 350,- and the second years later for an undisclosed sum.

Amazing ivory!







With a big thanks to the David Meyer Family !






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+1

Definitely worth seeing at least once.

And a little dig at trophy hunters....

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Not sure she intended it as a dig or just ignorance. I believe the latter.

I was pleased to find them and photograph them!

Cheers


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I did the same as you on a trip to Africa through London a few years ago. posted them with my hunt report and they are indeed impressive...

I think Bwanamich was referring to "The trophy hunters" title on the display board.

It should more appropriately be titled "The ivory hunters".

A number of years ago I tried to see the tusks but they were not on display.

A few years after that I read in one of Capstick's books that he had made an appointment with the museum and they had allowed him to go in the basement and see them.

Apx. 15-20 years ago, I sent a couple of letters to the museum giving them the dates I would be in London and asking them if they would let me go in the basement and view the tusks. I never got a reply. Without a reply I made other plans and skipped the museum.

Apx. 8-10 years ago I emailed them multiple times to see if they would allow me to see the tusks. Again, I received no reply. I decided to walk in and ask for a museum curator at the front. A lady there told me they were on display and I was able to see them.

My best guess is that they were put back on the floor between 2000 and 2007. It would truly be sad if the museum relegated the ivory back to the basement due to political pressures. Anti-ivory pressure is even coming from the Royal's now.

See it while you can. It takes apx. 3 hours to view the ivory if you are in transit at Heathrow.

Seen them several times...basically everytime I'm in London! See the tusks/go by the Selous plaque!

Read recently that the British Museum also has the largest pair of tusks from a cow ever taken. Oddly, don't remember seeing those.

I never get tire looking at those. Stopped in London in 05 and looked them up.

Mike

It seems like the tusks are being displayed not for an educational natural history purpose but instead for a liberal anti hunting advertisement. Instead of educating children in natural history the tusks are used for a sleazy purpose."Record Breakers" makes me think that the fellow who wrote that got his education from a hunting forum.Sleaze has made its way into a London museum.