Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa, has a unique topography: special sandforest that shares a border with Mozambique and that has an elephant population with very special characteristics: “a special genetic makeup to produce strong tuskers.” ― Alois Haberhauer, Elephant Geneticist: University of Kriel
“From a genetics standpoint [the elephants in Tembe] are quite gifted, [though this has a lot to do] with the history of the area, that this must have been a very difficult area to hunt in the peak of the ivory trade, so that would have left a lot of these bulls alone, that [the elephants in Tembe] were not hunted back then for their ivory. [The result is that there are] a lot more tuskers [per population size in Tembe] than anywhere in South Africa. Even [compared] to a place like [Tsavo National Park], which is a massive park with lots of elephants, they only have a handful of tuskers [per population size.] That is something quite special for Tembe.” ― Leonard Muller, Elephant Monitor: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
Tembe Elephant Park — Live Stream (YouTube)
Tembe Tusker Foundation
Thanks to Tembe Tusker Foundation for sharing this live stream with us all. Many thanks as well to the staff of Tembe Elephant Park and Tembe lodge for their support and assistance in the making of Last of the Big Tuskers.