Elephant Pictures - The Magnificent SEVEN - Big Tusker Elephants

[AfricaHunting.com]

Ahmed of Marsabit

Ahmed of Marsabit

Ahmed of Marsabit was and still is the most famous Elephant ever to have roamed the African continent. The territory around Mount Marsabit in Kenya may always have been renowned for its extraordinary tuskers, yet this particular ”Bwana Tembo” eclipses all predecessors. Born in 1919, Ahmed came from the forests of Mount Marsabit and grew to become a truly unique giant, justifiably known by the natives and big game hunters alike, as the "King of Marsabit".

(click on image to enlarge)


In 1970, in order to protect him from poachers, former President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, placed the Elephant under his protection by presidential decree, an unparalleled occurrence in the history of the country and the only Elephant to be declared a living monument. The giant was watched over day and night by two hunters against poachers.

A loner and quite elusive, Ahmed was seldom seen and was known better by reputation than by sight. One morning in 1974, after having waited in vain for their charge to reappear from the copse he had disappeared into the night before, his personal body guards decided to go and look for him. When they found Ahmed dead, he was not lying on his side, but resting majestically on his famous tusks, half leaning against a tree. He was 55.

While Ahmed was alive it was thought that his tusks were of record size but after his death his tusks were found to weigh only 67,2 kg (148 lbs) each. This is still no mean size but is far from some other tuskers.

Today, Ahmed of Marsabit can be admired as a mounted exhibit in front of the Kenya National Museum in Nairobi.

 

[monish]

Jerome,

Thanks a lot for sharing such exquisite photos & write up on the giant AHMED.

Monish

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Biggest Elephant Ever Shot
Published in 1938

Hunted in Southeastern Kenya, he stood 12 ft. 4 in. heigh and weighed about seven tons, the ivory trophies together weighed 213lb.

View the entire story by clicking on the following link: biggest-elephant-ever-shot.pdf

Biggest Elephant Ever Shot

View the entire story by clicking on the following link: biggest-elephant-ever-shot.pdf

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

A pair of huge Elephant tusks weighing a total of 294 pounds held by John A. Hunter.

 

[monish]

Jerome,

Massive & colossal tusks!!! thanks for sharing ...

Monish

 

[Dox]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am at a loss of words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Macs B]

So, now I know how to tell a trophy elephant. If he has to hold his head back just to walk he is huge!!
I have never seen an elephant walk with his forehead pointed at such an angle. Makes sense he would have to do so, but I have never seen that, ever.

Could you even begin to imagine the amazing strength such an animal would possess? His neck and shoulders would have to be so incredibly strong to carry such a weight over the course of his long life. It makes you appreciate the grandeur of these great bulls, they surely walk the earth without equal.

 

[nyatii]

I thought the biggest elephant was shot by a man in Columbus Nebraska?

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Pictures of big tusks from the ivory trade...

 

[James.Grage]

great old photos of good ivory..

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

More big tuskers...

Denys George Finch Hatton Elephant

Elephant Tusks with Brian Nicholson (1931 - 2010)

Elephant with Brian Nicholson (1931 - 2010)

Peter Hathaway Capstick (1940-1996). Peter H. Capstick with the tusks of the famous elephant, Phelwana, which had to be destroyed in Kruger National Park after being injured through unknown causes. The tusks weigh 158 and 141 pounds respectively, making him the largest tusker ever recorded in the region.

Terry Irwin, Professional Hunter. Swiss hunter Leon Burrus with PH Terry Irwin and hunting team with an elephant carrying 90 pounds of ivory per side. Not every hunter to the Selous went home with a big tusker, but Irwin ran 100% on lion, leopard and Cape buffalo. "I also obtained a large proportion of the rhino quota for our clients."

Robert J. Montvoisin (1922-2008), Professional Hunter. French Professional Hunter Robert Montvoisin and American huntress Betty Lathrop, who endured a 30 day safari in south-eastern C.A.R. in order to collect outstanding bongo and elephant trophies.

This jumbo was hunted by Mr. F Janse Van Rensburg. The old man was farming in the Eldoret area in Kenya up and till the late 1950's. They used to go jumbo hunting on a regular basis. The elephant in question was shot in 1949 on the Tana river close to Garrisa. Weights were, as we can recall 147 and 148 lb's. Their lengths were +- 11 feet. The old man used a .425 WR. We know that they were displayed at the Nairobi train station for some time. What happened to them then is a mistery.

Marc Pechenart (1927-2008) with the tusks of his best 17 trophy elephants in the garden of his summer residence in southern France. Besides a life with many commercial successes on three continents, he loved hunting and guns the most. Africa was his favorite destination, enjoying innumerable safaris to all corners of the continent. He was an SCI Life member and helped found two French SCI Chapters. He was keen to ensure that his fellow countrymen understood the importance of belonging to the most important big game hunting and conservation institution in the world. Many big game records have been entered by Marc into the SCI Record Book of Trophy Animals, but certainly, his greatest trophies are his collection of African elephants, where he has collected the longstanding SCI World Record as well as three more in the Top Ten of the category.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Some creatives pictures!

Magritte Ramme with World Record Cow Elephant Tusk, 1976. Photograph by Artist Peter Beard. Courtesy of Wolfgang Roth and Partners Fine Art.

Elui with tusk. Photograph by Artist Peter Beard. Courtesy of Wolfgang Roth and Partners Fine Art.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Pictures of big trophy Elephant from Iqbal Mauladad (BALI) East Africa, the Legendary Hunter Bali (1926-1970)

 

[Kiwi505]

Great pics!!
Elephant hunting was always a dream of mine.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Pair of Elephant tusks, White Nile, Feb 19th 1920, by Rowland Ward Ltd, 167 Piccadilly W, longest curves 180cm and 184.5cm respectively, with silvered metal collars, upon substantial turned and ebonised wood capstan plinths, one with ivorine Rowland Ward plaque, the other with small brass plaque with inscription (as above), overall height 183.5cm and 185cm respectively.

Eric Rundgren "Mchangi", Professional Hunter.

Marc Pechenart (1927-2008) with tusks.

Confiscated tusk in Tanzania. The world's largest ivory warehouse in Dares Salam, Tanzania, where ivory confiscated from poachers caught in Tanzanian wildlife parks is stored.

78 pound tusker - Johan Calitz Safaris in Botswana.

Peter Hathaway Capstick (1940-1996). Peter H. Capstick with the tusks of the famous elephant, Phelwana, which had to be destroyed in Kruger National Park after being injured through unknown causes. The tusks weigh 158 and 141 pounds respectively, making him the largest tusker ever recorded in the region.

Tony Sanchez-Arino with tusks, A Great Professional Hunter.

100 (Hundred) Pounder Elephant taken by Game Scouts in Southern Tanzania 2005. It took four shots from a worn out Governmental issue .458 to put down Tanzania's first hundredpounder elephant after nearly two decades. The last two shad been shot by tourist hunters in 1983 and 1986 in the Selous Game Reserve. The grotesque drama took place in Mbinga District, the most south-western corner of Tanzania, which borders Mozambique and Lake Malawi. Elephants have given way here to cultivation long time ago and those who stayed were poached out in the eighties. Therefore crowds of people gathered and watched the spectacle when a huge elephant appeared one morning in Ruhehe village. Youths threw stones, and later in the day 19 year old Lazaro Ndunguru climbed a small tree close to the animal. According to the official report by the Wildlife office in Mbinga he clubbed the tusker on the head with a knobbed stick. Being so unpleasantly disturbed, the elephant bull grabbed the unfortunate young fellow with the trunk, smashed him against the tree and stepped on him. Death had been immediate according to a medical doctor. The elephant left and destroyed in the following days several hectars of crops. On May 8th two game scouts who had been dispatched by Mbinga District authorities shot the bull at 2 pm in Uzena village. The District Game Officer, P.H. Ndimbo said that the tusks weighed 47 kg (103.61 pounds) and 48 kg (105.82 pounds) respectively, had a length of 225 cm (88.58 inches) and a circumference of 50 cm (19.68 inches) at the bottom.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

From the ivory trade...

Ivory trade in East Africa, a caravan on its way to the coast fording a river in Uganda.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Pictures by Artist Nick Brandt

Ranger with Tusks of Killed Elephant, Amboseli, 2011 by Nick Brandt

Two Rangers with Tusks of Killed Elephant, Amboseli, 2011 by Nick Brandt

Line of Rangers with Tusks of Killed Elephants, Amboseli, 2011 by Nick Brant

 

[jenn]

I can only dream. :daydreaming:
Great photos.

 

[Bobpuckett]

At the center, a record pair of Elephant tusks from Congo with a combined weight of 382 pounds (173.27 kilograms).

These guys must be pretty strong as the tusk look like they weigh more then the men do.

 

[Hilux01]

Duke has died - sadly

Kruger's big tusker, Duke, dies

One of the oldest tuskers in the Kruger National Park (KNP), Duke, passed away on October 1, 2011 seemingly of old age.

The elephant was discovered lying on its side along Makambeni spruit near west of the S28 road, five kilometres from Crocodile Bridge Camp. Crocodile Bridge Section Ranger, Neels van Wyk became worried when he noticed that there was no movement from Duke's collar signal for a few days, went to investigate; only to find Duke's five day old carcass along the Makambeni stream.

"Although Duke was old, we are very saddened by this magnificent bull's passing as he was very popular and had avid followers who always asked about him. In the past few years, there had been enquiries as to whether Duke was still with us; so when news of his passing came through we assumed it was rumours doing the rounds again" said William Mabasa, HOD: Public Relations.

Duke had already lost both his tusks and in 2010 was fitted with a tracking collar in an effort to check up on him and track his whereabouts. He was estimated to have lived in the KNP bush for over 55 years. As is normal practice, the head, tusk remains and possibly skeletons would be recovered and then stored for possible display purposes.

Emerging tuskers are named after previous rangers and field rangers who have made notable contributions to conservation and the KNP. Duke was named after the ranger, Thomas Duke who was based at Lower Sabie between 1903 and 1923. His home range was between Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge Rest Camps but could also be seen roaming around Tshokwane and Metsi Metsi Trails Camp.