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Hey LaeveldLeeu, WTM and Inberbe - got to see Duke within half an hour of getting to the park. The fufusela worked



See my trip report for more pictures.

If one were to make an educated guess, what would be the height of Dukes legs be and his overall height and his approximate weight?

The broken off part of the tooth was approx. 1.7 meters in length. Take a guess from there!

So going by that I would say Duke stands about 10 feet tall and is about 11 feet from tail to front of head. That is 1 large friend. For those that have seen him would you say this is about the feel of the size you got.

I have not seen Duke yet but I believe he is not a very big elephant.

You are absolutely right Jock - when we saw Duke together with your Mum and Dad we were surprised at how much smaller he was in stature in comparison to the Askaris that were with him on that occasion! There tusks were not as long of course but they were much bigger elephants! We are hoping to find him in 6 weeks time!

He is also an older elephant. He would start loosing bulk, as his general health starts declining.

We also found Duke to be small in stature compared to some elephants we have seen.

Duke has been sighted this morning without his only tusk- uncomfirmed

I'll see if we can find out anything...

Thanx DQ, wonder , if this is true, whether they will be able to trace the tusk? Shame old man is at his end.

thats not good news, this was wednesday, i now count myself very lucky




this was wednesday bout 10 km from croc bridge on the S28

I am not surprised.

His last molars are unable to process the food he takes in. That leads to a low nutrient in take and hence the reason for his tusks becoming that brittle.

I think the final chapter is drawing to an end for this majestic elephant.

Oh no, i really hope it's not true! I haven't seen him in the 'glory' old days, but was previllaged enough to have seen him last year in December near Tshokwane. Couldn't found him this year during March... Thought i read somewhere (Getaway of June ???) thats he is about 60 to 65 years old, but not sure Hope he will be still around in December this year...

SAD NEW / GOOD NEWS

I just spoke to the Crocodile Bridge section ranger.

Yes, Duke broke his second tusk!

Miracle!

They actually succeeded in finding the broken piece this morning! After 4 hours of tracking, they found it! It is a wonder!

The broken piece is 1.56 meters and weighs around 33 kg.

This will be a special piece of KNP history. Both tusks having been found.