After Adams' post with regards minimum size of Leopards allowed to be shot in Tanzania and the consequences i thought I would start a separate thread on this subject:



The minimum legal size for elephant in Tz is either a tusk length of 1.70 m along the outside curve or a weight of 20 kgs. If it does not qualify, the trophy are confiscated (theoretically). I personally have never heard of this actually happening but thought this photo below shows some that definetely would not qualify and yet are displayed proudly on the website of an outfitter!

I have heard that Tanzanian ivory is generally longer and thinner than in Botswana/Zimbabwe, which of the two thresholds is more easily satisfied?
On a seperate note: That is a nice buff? What do you estimate the spread to be?

I'm not an expert on elephants but I would guess that the minimum length is related to the minimum weight (at least in Tanz). A 40 lbs tusk will be approximately 1.70 m in length plus or minus. On observing the photo one should bear in mind that most Africans are quite short people (no offense intended to anyone; I'm just 1.78m!).

I would say the buff has a spread of about 42 inches, maybe slightly less!

I suspect the posed picture is administrative officials in the Tanzania government, at least two of them are...who knows who killed the elephants, maybe poachers...?????????

Tanzania elephants are smaller in stature and the tusks are long and slim, a 55 or 65 pound tanzania is an awesome sight to behold, in that the tusks are perhaps 7 feet or more long where a Zim elephant is huge in body and 55 or 60 pound tusks could be 4 ft. long for instance but much larger in circumfrance..

Both are impressive to say the least..My guess on the buff is 39" maybe 40" but who knows from a photo..

There is also talk at the Wildlife department now that they will lower the regulations on elephant in Tanzania to 15 kg and 1.60 for next year as well, but again, just talk right now and nothing in stone.

My guess on the buff in the picture is 38"

Adam,
What bothers me is the number of tuskless elephants in Tanzania, lots of elephants and the portion of tuskless cows is out of proportion..

That indicates that poaching/killing of the tusked bulls and tusked cows has lead to the genetic breeding of tuskless animals IMO...I have discussed this with Alan Vincent, and that was his explanation to me on the subject, and it makes since to me...

What is your take on this?

Ray, I do not know what the explanation is for tuskless cow elephants except for your same conclusion of it simply being genetics. I do see quite a few tuskless elephants as well, but do not know what the porportion is. As long as the bull elephants keep having tusks I guess we can not complain.

Back in the 70's and 80's there was a lot of poaching in the selous and was out of hand for awhile, but have to say that the elephants in the selous have made a huge come back and are only getting better every year. The wildlife department has done a great job with its anti-poaching and that is thanks to all the hunters who pay the money to hunt and help support the wildlife conservation. There are more elephants in the Selous now than there was many many years ago, which is good see, and I think it also has the highest concentration of elephant now than anywhere else in Africa.

"ELEPHANTS' ANSWER"



(The Daily Mail - 25th September 1998)



Hunted to the brink of extinction, the African elephant is making a dramatic comeback - thanks to an amazing example of nature's adaptability.



It is the elephant's tusks that have been its downfall. Ivory, once prized as highly as gold, is still a commodity to kill for.



So many elephants have been massacred by poachers that in the African bush the very balance of nature has come under threat.



But now the poachers are being foiled by nature. A genetic reaction to years of slaughter is producing a dramatic increase in the number of elephants born without tusks.

For the poachers, no tusks means no profit, and no reason to kill. Thus, tuskless elephants survive and increase their numbers; those with tusks continue to diminish.

It is the elephant's way of saving itself from extinction - and they are already being allowed to trumpet their success.



The natural fightback against decades of illegal and uncontrolled poaching has brought about a remarkable recovery in once dwindling numbers.



At one national park in Uganda, for example, there were 3,500 elephants in 1963. Thirty years later there were just 200. Today the population is 1,200 and growing rapidly.



The tuskless phenomenon has been chronicled by researchers at Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. A survey in 1980 recorded that only one per cent of elephants were without tusks, as a result of a rare genetic mutation.



Now Dr Eve Abe, a Cambridge educated elephant specialist with the Government of Uganda, says that 15.5 percent of female elephants and 9.5 percent of the males in the park are tuskless.



_________________________________________________________



Elephants 'ditch tusks' to survive



BBC News ( September 25, 1998)



An increasing number of elephants have no tusks, according to a survey. Research at the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, showed that 15% of female elephants and 9% of males in the park were born without tusks.



In 1930 the figure for both male and female elephants was only 1%.



Experts say the reason why some elephants are tuskless is a result of a chance genetic mutation.



They say elephants are losing their tusks as a rapid and effective evolutionary response to escape slaughter by ruthless and resourceful poachers who kill elephants for their ivory trophies.



The BBC's Science Correspondent, John Newell, says the continuing change shows how rapidly evolution can react in response to pressures that threaten the survival of a species.



This allows them to live, breed more freely and produce more offspring without tusks.



Evidence of a trend in tuskless elephants has been reported elsewhere.



Mark and Delia Owens recorded an unusual number of such elephants in 1997 while carrying out research in Zambia's North Luangwa National Park.



Published on the National Wildlife Federation's Website, they write: "Our research indicates that more than 38% of Luangwa elephants carry no tusks.



"Other researchers have reported that in natural, unstressed populations, only 2% of the animals are tuskless."



Tusks are used to dig for food and water, to dig up trees and branches and move them around, for self defence and for sexual display.



Conservationists say an elephant without tusks is a crippled elephant.



They say that while being tuskless is better than being dead, they hope that less drastic ways can be found to protect elephants against poachers.

____________________________________________________________

You mean the public paid the researcher for several years to come up with this .........rubbish! Never heard such fantasy before.



Ray, if the guys in the photo are Gov officials, why would an outfitter display it on their website? There is no promotional advantage in showing poached tusks in their trophy gallery section.



I still think that buff is over 41"