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Can anyone answer this question for me?

I may be wrong but I have noticed the the size of elephant tusks vary a lot dependent on habitat. Although It is many years since I was in Kenya, looking at Jans picture gallery there are some major league tuskers. Having recently returned from Zimbabwe I notice that the old bulls have far smaller tusks than those photographed by Jan.
Also the angle of growth is different, the Zimbabwe tuskers are more "Horizontal" as opposed to the Kenyan bulls which are almost "Vertical"
Do the tusks slowly rotate in the socket due to the weight so they point down?
Is it due to mineral content?
What I think the answer is, that it is habitat! The Kenya bulls from the plains use their tusks less for day to day life, where as the bush elephants tusks are used daily to strip bark in the bush land. Large tusks would be a hindrance to them. With this thinking do forest elephants have even smaller tusks?
Is the tusk also a sexual display?
Big tusks exciting to plains females, but a turn off to bush living females?
Medium tusks exciting for bush females but they wouldn't be seen dead with a big tusker?

Any thoughts people?

hi kipper,

the condition and seize of tusks do differ depending on habitat as the need minerals for them to grow.
e.g. namibian elephants very rarely have big tusks. mostly they are broken due to lack of certain minerals.
in zambia e.g. an estimation of 30% of eli population doesn't develop any tusks at all. some scientists assume
that due to extensive and longlasting poaching their by instinct might have decided not to develop any tusks at all in order to save them from being butchered......sounds wired but you never know......sometimes (or very often ) animals have much more natural power than humans

Kipper and Pippa:

I think to some degree you are right that the environment can effect tusks. Minerals they get in the soil alone help general body condition. However, there is also the heredity/genetic angle also. I've seen many tuskless elephants in Amboseli and Tsavo - presumably the same genetic background. I've also seen a lot of young elephants who's tusks grow at an almost 45 degree angle. The Shimba Hills elephants have much shorter, narrower and more pointed tusks than the savannah elephants. It would have been interesting to find of those Shimba Hills elephants who were translocated to Tsavo if the size and shapes of the tusks have changed. I've been surprised at Amboseli to see how many of the females have tusks crossed the the ends like Echo's.

I don't think you can equate tusk size with being more preferred by the females. Even female elephants like the bulls who are more tender and caring (just like human females). The experts have all mentioned how much all the females loved Dionysis when he was alive - because he was a true gentleman, didn't just rush in a mate and leave but instead spent time with the ladies, touching them gently with his trunk, etc. (elephant foreplay I guess).

I also heard that the bulls with the larger tusks are not good fighters, and one can understand that. However, in August I saw a large bull with huge tusks nearly touching the ground and everyone there intimidated him causing him to run off until they had left.

I'll try to get more information on this in February for you when I've had a chance to talk with some of the experts.