https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClCkwExh_Kg


Video of Isilo.

An Elephant with his own Facebook page.
We truly life in a weird world...

any guesses on the ivory weight? What a tusker!

So let me shock you all even more,

I have been dealing with the Temba Tribe through KZN wildlife in trying to get to hunt this bull.

I estimate him at 160lb and 125lb,

now for the shocker,

I offered them $1million to hunt this bull last year before he died of old age,

Answer was No obviously

JK
I believe that the last Black Rhino hunted at Makhasa was the nail in the coffin of these hunts. There was some debacle and Thormalen & Cochran were involved in some way(correct me if I am wrong there)

That said, Isilo was worth a lot more than USD 1Mil to the park. I guess they played their hand a little too long and lost out on a perfectly good opportunity to get the last bit of use out of the old bull.

Would have been one hell of a hunt though.
Did you have a client lined up?

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:


Would have been one hell of a hunt though.

Really ?

No I did not have any buyers lined up, was just playing an expensive game of poker with them,

If they did agree I would have easily sold it on but all i was trying to see was how far they were willing to go before they buckled under the influence of money,

This bull was easily close to 60 years of age and would have already given his best to the area as far as game veiwing was conserned

and such a cash injection would do wonders for their anti-poaching efforts,

The last time I saw this bull was 3 years ago.
My words to my wife was that this bull should be shot for a lot of money before he dies of old age.
The $1 million JK offered to the park could have gone a long way.
This is the same park that offers or offered special access weekends not involving the lodge to four wheel drive clubs to get money, organised through the honorary rangers.
I attended a weekend 6 years ago, it maybe cost me $200 for the weekend for 2 people, maybe 12 couples attended.
They will need a lot of weekends and a lot of clubs to make $1 million.
HtBH I follow your line of thinking, BUT the concession lodge there is not that big and not really expensive. That ivory was not worth $1 million in terms of game viewing and photography THERE in view of the elephants age.
I wonder whether their total turnover is $1 million a year.
To enter the Park as a day vistor was is than $30 for a family and one vehicle.
To top this this is the same tribe that was angry that the elephants in the Park was darted with contraceptives to control their numbers rather than being shot and the meat distributed.
What a grand opportunity that has been wasted in my opinion.
JK, you made them a thinking man's offer, but I don't think there is much lateral thought going on.
JK, why don't you attend one of the elephant workshops they are hosting this year? One of the sessions is about elephant management. I would love see the jaws dropping when one throws this lost offer open for discussion, after everybody has bitched and moaned about the cost of anti-poaching?

Martinus

Hi Balule

I agree, I made the same offer to the Sabie as well as the APNR,

Sabie gave it some though and came back that it would hurt there Image but then asked if I would pay them R10 million Rand for a Big buffalo, one of there owners saw what Buffalo went at an Auction and thought this what he would get for a hunted Buffalo as well

The Apnr was all keen and agreed to the hunt, but once they realised that the Bull we wanted was Mac, then they said we can shoot any 100lb Bull that was not known and named, which we all know is zero,

Mac died a few months ago and his tusks went 126lb

I have been involved with quite a few of the Elephant Management Workshops but its like pissing against the wind.

Hi JK

We used to own land in Balule West, but have now shifted to Ingwelala as we wanted to have less bother and more freedom to travel elsewhere, so I have seen little bit of the inner workings and emotions of the APNR. My impression was that one could get a real quality buffalo hunt in the APNR, comparable to if not the best in Africa. As to elephant I have absolutely zero interest with the weight limits, elephants with names and all the emotional crap.

Regards

Missing tusks were meant for King Shaka Airport display



http://www.news24.com/Travel/G...ort-display-20140411
2014-04-11 09:49



Cape Town – Tembe Elephant Park close to Kosi Bay in KZN recently suffered a sad loss, when Isilo, a magnificent elephant bull and Big Tusker died of natural causes.

Beeld reports that Ernest Robbertse, the tourism manager at Tembe, said Isilo’s tusks were the largest in South Africa at more than three metres long. The right tusk weighed about 65 kg and the left 60 kg.

The elephant was estimated to be around 58 years old and was one of the park's main tourist attractions.

Unfortunately, by the time, Isilo’s carcass was found his tusks were missing. Park management suspects that they were carried away by poachers who then fled to Mozambique.

Inkosi Mabhudu Tembe, chief of the park, has offered a reward of R100 000 for anyone who could return the tusks to his tribe.

Tembe said he has e-mailed the Mozambique crime intelligence unit to alert them to the theft. “I told them we want our elephant’s tusks back.”

However, he has not heard from the authority.

He said he had planned to offer the tusks for display at the King Shaka Airport. “Think how much it would mean for South African tourism,” he said.

Year in the Wild writer and photographer, Scott Ramsay, posted a tribute to Isilo on his Facebook page earlier this week: “For me, iSilo was a potent reminder of what makes Africa special, unique and incomparable. To me, there are few things on this planet as impressive and inspiring as a huge elephant tusker. His death is emblematic of what's happening to Africa's wild places and wild animals.”

Don't let US or EU get hands on them.
They will put them on fire.

Sad, in all respects.

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
Don't let US or EU get hands on them.
They will put them on fire.

May be we should start putting those who call for the burning of ivory on top of the heap - and burn the bloody stupid lot with it too.