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on Elephants And Carcasses – A Complex Affair

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The picture does raise the question of the so called “legal” ivory trade.

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I remember having the very same experience once in Addo where an elephant had died naturally and the rest of the herd were seen to be mourning, touching and caressing the carcass. Not only emotional for the elephants but for observers too.

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Excellent post!

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I once saw a heart-rending scene at Londolozi, where a very weak calf’s mother and the females in the herd, tried to get him to stand between the mother’s front foot and that of another female, facing one another. The mother put her trunk down her mouth, and tried to revive the calf with liquid. There was a pack of lion circling, and overnight the herd left. The next morning the mother was very distressed, the calf had died, but she was still keeping the lions at bay. Did I ascribe feelings to her frantic efforts? She seemed very sad and desperate.

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Shaun, thank you for a very interesting post. It’s so fascinating watching and learning about Elephants. The more we learn, it seems the more we need to learn about these very complex old souls.

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Very interesting article and wonderful photographs. Thank you for sharing Shaun!

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Thank you Shaun for the interesting blog! I have a question that I am not sure if you will answer, what happens to the tusks of this & any from elephants that die of natural causes??

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HI SHAUN,
THANK YOU FOR A VERY INTERESTING BLOG AND FOR SHARING YOUR WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ELEPHANTS.
LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN A FEW WEEKS.
KIND REGARDS,
TED.

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My understanding is any tusks or fragments found are turned over to the proper authorities for burning.

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Beautiful blog Shaun. It does appear that ellies have a mourning over their departed brother or sister. Ellies are gentle giants and appear to be close knit families. Love how they all guard the younguns. Thanks for the info.

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