About a week or so ago I got an email from my friend in Tsavo telling me he had met a very nice chap from SA who was interested in the big bulls and had given this chap my email (since he knew I had a lot of elephant pictures I might share).

I got a very nice letter from the man two days ago. He is an equine veterinarian in SA and a true elephant lover. He already has one book completed which is available at amazon.com called "Great Tuskers of Africa" and he is now working on a second book. He has visited most of the large populations of elephant areas incuding Dzanga Bai to see the forest elephants (program about the Dzanga Bai elephants was on 60 minutes this past Sunday with Andrea Turkalo).

You can access his website by going to http://www.johanmarais.com/index.php/component/comprofiler/
You will need to register to view the website (which is a good idea so hopefully poachers will not easily be able to get the information). Kat - you'll recognize the picture on the home page.

I haven't yet ordered the book but will be doing so shortly.

Yes, Jan, that's my favorite big boy bull! Do you know if he made it through the drought/avoided poachers?

Oria Douglas-Hamilton mentioned that Chinese poaching gangs were targeting each and every elephant in Kenya with large tusks....so, it makes me nervous that information on these remaining big tuskers is being put on-line for all to see. I hope their locations are not revealed.

Being used to the elephants of the poor soil regions of the south it is so strange to me to see these Tuskers from the fertile lands.
What to me is a good set of ivories would only be found on youngsters & are insignificant to these guys!

I'm impressed although once I did see a good Tusker at a distance in QE Park Uganda. Our guide who had been part of the Elephant count after Idi Amin was overcome with emotion to see him.

Kat: That picture was taken by Johan within the last couple of weeks so I know he is alive and well.

Kipper: I think the old Africa-hands believe a good tusker is one with "horns" around 100 pounds each side. I have been lucky enough to see quite a few of them. These are the ones that I would love to see given special protection by Presidential decree. Just to think they survived the poaching holocaust in the 70's and 80's is amazing in itself.