https://www.facebook.com/game....2092/?type=3&theater

Link from Game Animals, photo.

https://www.facebook.com/mikef...rp9aIUstcE225sf3dkU0


From Mike Fell's Facebook.



The Natural Death

As a tribute to Tim, the legendary elephant who died yesterday, I went through some of my old images of him and edited them this morning.

The cause of death seems to be other stronger/ younger bulls fighting him.

The immense ivory was officially weighed and here are the dimensions:

1) Right tusk - 73 KGS/160lbs

Outer - 300 cm 9.84feet. 118.11”

Inner - 253 cm 8.3 feet 99.61”

Round- 50cm 19.69”

2) Left tusk - 61 KGS/134lbs

Outer - 280 cm 9.19 feet 110.24”

Inner - 220 cm 7.22 feet 86.61”

Round-50 cm 19.69”

Tim died at age 50 and his ivory got noticeably larger in the last years of his life. An elephant will grow more ivory in the last ten years of its life, than in the first ten or twenty.

As the famous vet and author Dr. Kevin Robertson noted "when a bull elephant is on his last set of molars (the 6 th set) at around 45 yrs of age - and there are no more teeth developing in the jaw bone, this seems to trigger a sudden spurt of ivory growth - it thickens, the nerve cavity shrinks, gets denser - the micropores within the ivory (like a honeycomb) fill up making the ivory heavier for its size and there is also a sudden spurt of growth length. I have long pondered as to why this happens because really big tusks are a hinderance to old bulls. They cant lie down or serve cows easily and they use up so much energy carrying them around that it does not make sense as to why this happens".

Perhaps this astronomical growth in a bulls deteriorating years is natures way of making them able to defend themselves against lesser younger bulls. Or perhaps this is part of the elephants life cycle and natures form of euthanasia. A natural way of eliminating them from the population. @ Kenya

Unbelievable...

I take it this was in Amboseli?

To add to my earlier quoted comments - really old bulls with huge tusks are unable to defend themselves effectively against younger, stronger and fitter bulls with smaller tusks - a bit like having to use a sledgehammer in a sword fight!
I saw Zimbabwe's one-time famous tusker - the Tura bull just before he died. He too was well over a 100 pounder and the cause of his death was attributed to sepsis from an abdominal wound - he was obviously tusked in the stomach by a younger bull.
And not too long ago the Kruger Park also lost one of its ionic tuskers Mandelev - it was suspected that he was also killed in a fight with a younger bull.

I believe there are photos of Tim in Robin Hurts latest book.

Now then, what will be the final end of these majestic tusks - the funeral pyre to keep the antis happy?

quote:

Originally posted by fulvio:
Now then, what will be the final end of these majestic tusks - the funeral pyre to keep the antis happy?

Actually, Instead of his ivory being destroyed, I read that Tim was being transported to Nairobi to be skinned for a full body mount, and he’ll then be displayed in a museum in Nairobi.

Ahmed is already in the Nairobi Museum but I guess there's room enough for his cousin to keep him company and as usual, "celebrities" get the VIP treatment or is it because it was was a natural death and not from a bullet.

Quite frankly it makes no difference considering dead is dead.

I think there are some other big bulls in Amboseli that could take Tims place?

To continue with this discussion, well-known Namibian elephant hunter Kai-Uwe Denker came to see me at the recent SCI show in Reno.
He has a new elephant book out, "About The Spirit Of The African Wilderness" It is a colossal and wonderful piece and a must have for any serious elephant hunting enthusiast.
It is Kai-Uwe's opinion that the growth spurt of an elephants tusks starts earlier - when it is on its 5 th set of molars - this is when such bulls are in their early 30's. He agrees that the ivory getting 'denser' and the nerve shortening occurs later, when the 6th and last molar is is wear, but the real length and girth increase starts earlier he thinks.
It is a well-known statistic that the weight of ivory of a bull can double in the last 20 years of its life - so 35 yr old 50 pounders can be 100 pounders by the end of their mid 50's lifespan.
But I do wonder if such a 160 pounder as discussed here was an 80 pounder when he was in his mid 30's. I wonder if there are any photos of this bull when he was a lot younger.

I would think that instead of very big tusks being a hindrance it's probably old age that puts these giant tuskers in danger from younger bulls. Elephants being the intelligent animals they are sucker punching a tusk through the ribs or stomach of a rival while acting friendly would not be out of the question.

There will always be a few big bulls,as they get those huge tusks in the last years of their life, but few make it to that point I fear, but some always manage to do it..Good management probably would help..

quote:

Originally posted by doctari505:
To continue with this discussion, well-known Namibian elephant hunter Kai-Uwe Denker came to see me at the recent SCI show in Reno.
He has a new elephant book out, "About The Spirit Of The African Wilderness" It is a colossal and wonderful piece and a must have for any serious elephant hunting enthusiast.
It is Kai-Uwe's opinion that the growth spurt of an elephants tusks starts earlier - when it is on its 5 th set of molars - this is when such bulls are in their early 30's. He agrees that the ivory getting 'denser' and the nerve shortening occurs later, when the 6th and last molar is is wear, but the real length and girth increase starts earlier he thinks.
It is a well-known statistic that the weight of ivory of a bull can double in the last 20 years of its life - so 35 yr old 50 pounders can be 100 pounders by the end of their mid 50's lifespan.
But I do wonder if such a 160 pounder as discussed here was an 80 pounder when he was in his mid 30's. I wonder if there are any photos of this bull when he was a lot younger.

Thank you for your two posts on this thread Dr.

My day is always better when I learn something new!

Bumping this up because I have just seen a story that One Ton, a massive elephant down in Tsavo was recently injured - potentially due to being tusked.

If the story of Tim and the Tura Bull above hold true, perhaps One Ton is being harassed more and more by younger bulls as he enters his very old years?

quote:

Originally posted by doctari505:
To continue with this discussion, well-known Namibian elephant hunter Kai-Uwe Denker came to see me at the recent SCI show in Reno.
He has a new elephant book out, "About The Spirit Of The African Wilderness" It is a colossal and wonderful piece and a must have for any serious elephant hunting enthusiast.
It is Kai-Uwe's opinion that the growth spurt of an elephants tusks starts earlier - when it is on its 5 th set of molars - this is when such bulls are in their early 30's. He agrees that the ivory getting 'denser' and the nerve shortening occurs later, when the 6th and last molar is is wear, but the real length and girth increase starts earlier he thinks.
It is a well-known statistic that the weight of ivory of a bull can double in the last 20 years of its life - so 35 yr old 50 pounders can be 100 pounders by the end of their mid 50's lifespan.
But I do wonder if such a 160 pounder as discussed here was an 80 pounder when he was in his mid 30's. I wonder if there are any photos of this bull when he was a lot younger.

Denker’s book is awesome. I would have loved to hunt with him.