One of South Africa’s oldest tuskers has died

'We are very saddened by this magnificent bull's passing'

October 2011: One of the oldest tuskers in South Africa's Kruger National Park has died. The elephant was discovered lying on its side along Makambeni spruit near west of the S28 road, 5km from Crocodile Bridge Camp. It is thought it died of old age.

DUKE IS DEAD: Ranger Neels van Wyk identifies the elephant's body.

Crocodile Bridge Section Ranger, Neels van Wyk became worried when he noticed that there was no movement from Duke's collar signal for a few days, went to investigate; only to find Duke's five-day-old carcass along the Makambeni stream.

‘Although Duke was old, we are very saddened by this magnificent bull's passing as he was very popular and had avid followers who always asked about him. In the past few years, there had been enquiries as to whether Duke was still with us; so when news of his passing came through we assumed it was rumours doing the rounds again,' said William Mabasa of SANParks.

Estimated to be more than 55 years old
Duke had already lost both his tusks and in 2010 was fitted with a tracking collar in an effort to check up on him and track his whereabouts. He was estimated to have lived in the KNP bush for more than 55 years. As is normal practice, the head, tusk remains and possibly skeletons would be recovered and then stored for possible display purposes.

Emerging tuskers are named after previous rangers and field rangers who have made notable contributions to conservation and the KNP. Duke was named after the ranger Thomas Duke who was based at Lower Sabie between 1903 and 1923. His home range was between Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge Rest Camps but could also be seen roaming around Tshokwane and Metsi Metsi Trails Camp.