Genetic ... don't want them in the population as it is tough being an elephant without tusks .. At times they have banned their sport hunting because they were too dangerous ... I would recommend everyone hunt kudu cows, instead ...

I heard that 3% of elephants across Africa are tuskless. The idea is to get them out of the gene pool.

A friend of mine did the tuskless cow elephant hunt in Mozambique last year and enjoyed the experience. It was very reasonably priced in conjunction with some plains game he was after. The only downside is he could not export any of the hide either, but again, the price was right.

Boghossian

as I understand it a tuskless cow has more difficult feeding. Elephants use their tusks to dig for roots, strip bark off trees etc in addition to their trunks of course. So the tuskless cows have to work harder at it AND also be more aggressive to get at food sources.

As was said they want them shot for genetic breeding purposes.

A question I have always thought about before ever booking a tuskless elephant hunt. How common are they? If I was booking a 10 day tuskless elephant hunt in the Zambezi Valley and maybe having to pay a somewhat higher rate, what's the chances of actually finding one? I guess it may be which concession is being hunted, I think I read or saw once they were more numerous near Lake Kariba?

Is there a reason why they specify the cow must be tuskless? What are they saving the 'tusked' ones for, the poachers? Or does the lack of tusks have something to do with age...

It is genetic and they should be shot, Tanzania is full of tuskless cows and they don't get poached like tusk cows and bulls do, and the tuskless gene spreads like wildfire...

There is no comparison between hunting a Tusked or tuskless cow to a fully growed bull elephant. He is the ultimate hunt in this world IMO and the next one I shoot will be a hundred pounder or naught, probably naught...

Tuskless cows are dangerous because they are cranky, they are at the end of the pecking order and get beat up a lot by cows with tusks...They are also unpredictable..They are considerably smaller than mature bulls. Cow hunts are fun and the element of danger exist with them for sure.

Just out of curiosity.Besides not having ivory,is there any differance between hunting the tuskless cows instead of the trophy bulls?Are they comparable in size?I've seen some non-trophy hunt photos of some tuskless ele and they looked rather small.And since you pay trophy fees are you allowed to take home the skin and or skull?Might be a way for a man of average means to collect the Big Four after all.

From my understanding, no part of the tuskless cow may be exported. They are considerably smaller, on average than a bull. Still, would be a great hunt, as many tuskless cows are of a very nasty disposition.

Don't fool yourself, hunting a tuskless(cow or bull) is not for the faint of heart. I'm going to the Zambezi Valley this September and will hunt my third tuskless. I've taken a bull and I've taken two tuskless cows and I can tell you, hunting among those cow heards is DANGEROUS! When a cow elephant charges it is rarely a mock charge. She's coming to kill you. Especially when there are "lighties"(youngsters) in the herd. I never did so much running away from animals
in my entire hunting career. You might want to read Ian Nyschens(pronounced "nations") book MONTHS OF THE SUN about his days of professional ivory hunting in the Zambezi Valley during the 40's and 50's. He was a professional and the "Zambezi Ladies" used to scare him shitless

BTW Nyschens is alive and living in Harare. Understand he's quite a character.

In Zim there is no distinction between a tuskless cow or tuskless bull on permit. Tuskless elephant. The cows may be smaller than the bulls, but make no mistake they are big animals.

As far as how common are they? It depends where you are hunting. I will be hunting the Sapi Safari block. The tuskless are thick there. you can expect to get a shot at one in 2-5 days on average.