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This is desperately sad news. Although having never seen him for myself, his legend certainly preceeds him. This ought to do nothing to detract from his status as a legendary tusker however; it's the elephant and not the ivory which is of importance.

So, who gets elevated in to the group now that there is a vacancy?

And there I was just chatting to my son that we have a few days booked at croc bridge for next year .

What a pity, but absolutely amazing that it was found.
Well done to Neels and his team , this is certainly something that is worthy to go into the museum.

Duke is well past his breeding stage ...

Lol ya, he is enjoying a peaceful retirement without the stress and strains of family life .

I do hope that Duke is still able to get enough nutrients without his tusk. I wonder what his molars are like?

why not?

He is such a magnificent specimen!!!

Idd, very sad for Duke. When I heard the bad news I immediately was thinking of the hours we spent with him on the S28 in march this year. he was taking a nap and I was waiting for hem to make some nice pics. He came after about 1,5 hours waiting.
Pics from Duke are on my website. I hope I will see him again next year febr/march when we are back in the KNP.
Aat

Who is the genius that decided that Duke's tusks aren't going to Letaba? What could possibly be the reason???

I understand your frustration, cptphotographer.

And we've asked those questions a few times over ourselves. To me, as one of the original duke pack members and the last to have seen him with both tusks and the first to locate him with one tusk and assiting in locating the broken tusk, it is exceptionally frustrating to know that I might never be able to see his tusks at all.

But the museum is there for a purpose and that is to display the maginificent 7's history. Duke is not a magnificent elephant, unfortunately and together with that he is also still alive and for these reasons one can ultimately understand that the decision to not display his tusks could be a very valid one. Sad but true...

Not only that, the total length and weight of his tusks is still an unknown, so it's not sure if he is the largest tusker at all.

There is no decision that his tusks will never go to the elephant hall. But for now they won't go.

Though it is true that the elephant hall commemorates the "original" 7, that does not mean that it will stay that way forever. In fact, the elephant hall is even now about more than just the 7.

I think that, by the very nature of these type of things, adaptions will be made in the future.

The fact that Duke is still alive also complicates things. Once he is dead and his scull is available, things will change. His story with the broken tusks is so different that, even if he isn't the biggest, I would think that he will have a special story to tell in the museum.

Afraid not ... not at this moment. It will be kept in storage until such a time as something can be done with it. (Hopefully they will eventually find their way to the elephant museum!)

Duke sheds his tusks by KNPSM

Herewith a video clip of Duke taken on the 03 August 2008, just days before he lost his second tusk

http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=ozC ... FrmA%3D%3D

I have never seen an elephant with such giant tusks before! It's sad, that both are gone now.