MAC 

 

On the 31st October 2013, the Section Ranger at The Kruger National Park, Karien Keet, reported that a large tusked elephant had been found dead. Further examination of the recovered collar revealed that the carcass belonged to Mac, a magnificent bull who we first collared in 2002 and whom we have been monitoring ever since.

 

 

 

Just four months prior to his death, Mac had completed his annual musth cycle in the Associate Private Nature Reserves. Each year, for the past 10 years, we have had the delight of meeting Mac in his testosterone-charged state whilst in full musth. He would have to walk approximately 200km from the northern regions of the Kruger National Park to reach us in the Associated Private Nature Reserves.

 

His powerful presence always seemed to mask any indication of the arduous journey he had just completed. His rhythmic swaying as he walked to accommodate his tusks, each weighing over 100llbs, was mesmerising to watch.

 

Magnificent tusks

 

By the time we got to the Kruger National Park, Mac’s splendid tusks had already been removed and sent to the headquarters for safekeeping. The right tusk measured 2.47m in length, and the left tusk was 1.94 m. The circumference of each tusk was approximately 50 cm. His tusks were silky and reminiscent of a whale’s ribs, both in size and curvature. They also seemed strangely out of place lying on the concrete floor, as if the essence of what they represented was no longer part of them. After viewing the tusks we set out to find the carcass, some 21km from where his collar had transmitted its last reading. With a heavy heart we set out to establish the cause of death.

 

 

 

 

 

Range

Timbavati - Shingwedzi - Mopani - Letaba - Phalaborwa

 

 

Symmetrical tusks. He had a wide V-shaped notch (near the center) and a large V-shaped tear (bottom) in his left ear and a wide V-shaped notch in the right ear (top).

 

 

 

Left Tusk         Right Tusk

 

248 cm             256 cm

 

55,5 kg             57,5 kg

 

 

Cause of death

 

We approached the collapsed bulk of the fallen giant with apprehension. We examined the carcass for any signs of injury or bullets, making use of a metal detector.

 

Fortunately, he appeared not to have been poached. Next we looked at his teeth and found that an abscess in the upper left molar had caused almost no wear to his lower left molar while his right molar was worn smooth due to excessive use. With so little grinding surface left for Mac to masticate the brittle late dry-season browse, he was probably unable to regain his body weight after his recent musth cycle.

In all probability, he had starved to death-a fate that befalls many an old elephant around the age of 60