470 Mbogo just got back from a three week vacation in E. Africa with Mrs. 470 Mbogo. He sent me these pictures and said to post them on the forum. Hopefully he'll give us some details to go with them.

I'm no ele expert, but this one does look pretty big eh?





Ngorongoro crater?

Cheers,
Canuck

Yep! The great ol´man of Ngorongoro. If you think how far elephants can "migrate" in search of food, water and just for the sake of it, yet this guy never leaves the crater floor which is hardly 18 km across at its widest! He knows he has found animal eden

What a beautiful elephant. Thanks for the pics.

Nice photos of a great elephant. What a beast! Too bad he didn't deign to turn around. Thanks for posting.

Wow, those are very nice tusks! I guess ele's don't get old and develop like that anymore. Anyone care to guesstimate their size?

YES!

Thanks. Were these pictures they took themselves, or purchased somewhere overthere?

Here's a pic of an ele I took at Ngorongoro in July 2005. Think it's the same one?

Probably not, but close enough to be brothers. These guys are huge.

You mean these pictures are not from Makuti? I am almost positive this is the type of elephant Buzz told me to expect in Makuti.

Great photos, what an impressive bull. I would sure hate to have to lug those around all day long, bet his head and neck muscles get tired.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
You mean these pictures are not from Makuti? I am almost positive this is the type of elephant Buzz told me to expect in Makuti.

Great photos, what an impressive bull. I would sure hate to have to lug those around all day long, bet his head and neck muscles get tired.

I'm sure Buzz would not, definitely, shoot that bull before he had a chance to say "Mike, back me up!"

quote:

Think it's the same one?

Could be, but the tusks seem to be of very different curvatures.

quote:

Originally posted by WPN:

quote:

Think it's the same one?

Could be, but the tusks seem to be of very different curvatures.

Yes, I think you're right. A couple of nice bulls in the neighborhood nevertheless.

Hi Spring,
I think you will find that they are different bull as the one I took pictures of has the right tusk shorter meaning right tusked and your picture shows aleft tusked elephannt. I do have more pictures of this bull head on etc but the light was so much better once he moved past us. It was in the Ngorongoro Crater. I have lots more photos and I'm just trying to get set up with photobucket and put an album together to share with you guys. Thanks for posting this one Chris I'll send you one with a straight on shot.
Take good care,
Dave

Canuck, Thanks for sharing! Those are great pictures and nice to know there are a few ele of that size around. Very long tusks, but like the elephant in Tanzania, are long and thinner. So it hard to guess the weight, but probably in the 70's.

Does Buzz shoot anything with ivory??

Dak

That Dude is Awsome!

Those pictures get the blood pumping. . .

A toast to his longevity...beautiful..


Mike

Here are some more pics from 470 Mbogo....













Cheers,
Canuck

I bet that long tusker never leaves the park. If he's survived this long, he'll just die there of old age.

And some more from 470 Mbogo...















And this one is pretty neat...

quote:

This is interesting. It is at Lake Malawi, at first I thought someone's boat was on fire but it turns out to flies. Now they are about a mile out from shore at this point. The batch of flies floats around with the wind and sometimes comes ashore. They will fly in circles aroun some of the big Mango trees. When they do this the locals will go out with baskets and catch them. They press them into patties and then cook and eat them. I've never seen anything like it.

Cheers,
Canuck

That really old tusker would make a superb trophy IMO plus we would be doing him a favor as I doubt he has much teeth left for chewing and has already probably started starving to death....

Yup, my thoughts, too. What a great bunch of picts!!

Great pictures Dave !

Wonder if that old guy is still mating, and throwing pups? We need more elephants with the genetics to have big tusks, other wise trunks are going to be your trophies...

S

Thanks for the pics. Those are great. That smaller elephant bull looks like he's 100 years old. Any idea how old the big boys are?

Trust me, I looked and didn't see anything like that wondering around any CAMPFIRE area in Zim.

Dave, did you consider sticking a crosshairs decal on your lens?

Wonderful photography my friend!

IMO around mid 70's to 80 years old.

Bwanamich

IMO no Elephant can reach 70-80 Years

Maybe you're right in the wild but in captivity/zoo's?.....and Ngorongoro is just like a zoo. Elephants living there have hardly any stress and find life extremely easy...

My 1st instinct was to say mid 60's but then the fact the elephant is in Ngorongoro made me up it