Elephants

[Spalea]

Very recent video I just come to discover.

" Kukura is Shonga meaning “growing” referring to the speed at which this bulls tusks developed from Emerging to Larger Tusker status in a short space of time.
Range: Northern Satara/Letaba.This bull predominates the northern central region but has been recorded as far north as Letaba.
Special Features: Kukura has tusks that are fairly symmetrical with the right tusk curved slightly higher than the left. The ivory is also on the thinner side when compared to other large bulls. This bull is quiet distinctive in that the left ear is partially floppy. In addition to the partial floppy nature of the left ear with a tendency to fold backwards there are a few notable notches. In the lower lobe towards the tip is a shallow u-shaped notch, in the upper top section of the lobe often hidden in a frontal view in the folds is a deep but narrow u-shaped notch. Below this towards the mid lobe a small misshapen v-shaped notch can be seen. The right ear has less distinctive notches, in the lower lobe is a wide very shallow scooped shaped notch. Towards the top of the lobe, a deeper u-shaped notch not visible from a frontal view. Kukura’s trunk has developed a few scared areas, most notably thickened nodules between the tusks at the lip line level and slightly below.
General: The first submission of this bull was made in 2015 by ex-regional ranger Louis Olivier (see Mandleve) in the Bangu area of the Kruger National Park, at the time his tusks were not significant enough to considering naming him and it was decided to monitor him. No significant change was observed by late 2018 when he was under review for renaming.
However a number of submissions made in early 2019 with the most significant and clear one being on the SANParks Forum by Marj Atkins showed exponential growth in the bull’s ivory. At this stage it was decided after consultation with the naming committee that due to the development to put the bull forward for naming. Sightings of this bull continue to increase as he develops with him being a popular sighting in the central region. "

An other one, dated from 8 months, about the same elephant and explaining the nature of "submissions" making him labelled as a big tusker:

" Kukura is Shona meaning “growing” referring to the speed at which this bulls tusks developed from Emerging to Larger Tusker status in a short space of time.
His Range is Northern Satara/Letaba. This bull predominates the northern central region but has been recorded as far north as Letaba.

Kukura has tusks that are fairly symmetrical with the right tusk curved slightly higher than the left. The ivory is also on the thinner side when compared to other large bulls. This bull is quiet distinctive in that the left ear is partially floppy. In addition to the partial floppy nature of the left ear with a tendency to fold backwards there are a few notable notches. In the lower lobe towards the tip is a shallow u-shaped notch, in the upper top section of the lobe often hidden in a frontal view in the folds is a deep but narrow u-shaped notch. Below this towards the mid lobe a small misshapen v-shaped notch can be seen. The right ear has less distinctive notches, in the lower lobe is a wide very shallow scooped shaped notch. Towards the top of the lobe, a deeper u-shaped notch not visible from a frontal view. Kukura’s trunk has developed a few scared areas, most notably thickened nodules between the tusks at the lip line level and slightly below.

The first submission of this bull was made in 2015 by ex-regional ranger Louis Olivier (see Mandleve) in the Bangu area of the Kruger National Park, at the time his tusks were not significant enough to considering naming him and it was decided to monitor him. No significant change was observed by late 2018 when he was under review for renaming.
However a number of submissions made in early 2019 with the most significant and clear one being on the SANParks Forum by Marj Atkins showed exponential growth in the bull’s ivory. At this stage it was decided after consultation with the naming committee that due to the development to put the bull forward for naming. Sightings of this bull continue to increase as he develops with him being a popular sighting in the central region. " Reply