A classic cliche but still special - super tusker

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Hawkeshead

Hawkeshead

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3 super tuskers who frequented Amboseli National Park in Kenya have been killed by licensed hunters (believed to be from the US and Asia or Europe) in Tanzania the over the last 3 months. The bodies of the killed elephants were burnt in an attempt to prevent identificationI. It is thought that there are only 10 of these super truckers left in this area. Troublingly there are a further three licences which have been issued but not used as yet.

Consequently, it remains a very special privilege to have an opportunity to get close to the following icon that will be very familiar to those on this forum. A truly humbling experience to be allowed into Craig's domain. IIMHO, the only way such creatures should be 'shot' is through a lens.

Mulling over perspectives when I was taking these images, shared by the environment, the light and Craigs position as he was grazing whilst casting the occasional bemused eye on me, I am curious as to which angle do you prefer?

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All 3 are beautiful photographs. I like the first one better. Not sure why but I looked at it longer and studied it more. Well done.

At 31 to 46mm, you must have been pretty close.
Jeff
 
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Thanks all for the comments and observations. I am thinking of getting 1 and 3 printed. I was with a Masai guide who has been associated with Craig for 5 years and knows him well. After 52 years of having photographers interested in and around him, Craig was chilled and very comfortable however as always with wild animals, nothing can be taken for granted and you need to keep your wits about you. Our driver was also keeping a keen eye on things.
 
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excellent images!
interestingly, I prefer the second one becasue it is unusual.
Yu can see the compositions of the first and the third quite often. And they aer also like portraits made fomr the side.
The second, however is almost intimate. It is like a talking to a photographer... There is a feeling that ellie is even closer than on the other pictures and almost touch the lens with its tusk...
 
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Being awesome images all 3 of them, if I were to pick one for myself, it'd probably be #2, being the most unusual angle of the 3, a combination of everything into one picture (it transpires "danger" more than the other 2).

Congrats on all 3 John! Thanks for sharing!
 
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ElenaH said:
excellent images!
interestingly, I prefer the second one becasue it is unusual.
Yu can see the compositions of the first and the third quite often. And they aer also like portraits made fomr the side.
The second, however is almost intimate. It is like a talking to a photographer... There is a feeling that ellie is even closer than on the other pictures and almost touch the lens with its tusk...
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Thanks Elena , hadn't looked at them from this perspective. Cheers
Marcelo_R said:
Being awesome images all 3 of them, if I were to pick one for myself, it'd probably be #2, being the most unusual angle of the 3, a combination of everything into one picture (it transpires "danger" more than the other 2).

Congrats on all 3 John! Thanks for sharing!
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Cheers Marcelo, the interesting thing was that on 2, we thought Craig was going to walk away to his left when I noticed him seeming to be curious and then he turned directly towards me and looked down, almost like he was posing. I even said to the guides that I thought he would turn for a photo,
 
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Impressive shots that really highlight the size of these mighty creatures. Research was just published in Nature Ecology & Evolution that demonstrates that Elephants call each other by names. In that light reading about hunting licenses for Elephants is disturbing to put it mildly.
 
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Excellent set of images John.
My wife and I visited Amboseli last year and we were fortunate to see Michael ,Craig had apparently moved out of the area at the time of our visit.
How anyone is prepared to hunt these magnificent Tuskers is beyond belief and should be banned by the Park authorities.
Thanks for sharing - the first one is my choice.
Gavin
 
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Gaduf said:
Excellent set of images John.
My wife and I visited Amboseli last year and we were fortunate to see Michael ,Craig had apparently moved out of the area at the time of our visit.
How anyone is prepared to hunt these magnificent Tuskers is beyond belief and should be banned by the Park authorities.
Thanks for sharing - the first one is my choice.
Gavin
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Hi Gavin, thanks for the comments. These were taken in a conservancy near Amboseli NP where Craig has been for a while. The problem is that Tanzania govt are approving licences for an area outside of any NP’s but within the the elephants migratory routes to and from Amoseli. The wildlife, tourism and conservancy groups in the region are trying hard to raise public awarenes to generate challenge to the issuance of the licences. Africa Geograpghic have produced some excellent articles on this.
 
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The images are great, thanks for sharing!

One thing so, I don't get why people have the urge to literally shoot animals for trophies, population control, food, all good, but trophies? Ehy destroy beauty just cause one can? Heck, there isn't even a lot of challenge in hunting those animals anymore! They should take pictures of them and those at their walls, and not body parts.
 
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hef19898 said:
The images are great, thanks for sharing!

One thing so, I don't get why people have the urge to literally shoot animals for trophies, population control, food, all good, but trophies? Ehy destroy beauty just cause one can? Heck, there isn't even a lot of challenge in hunting those animals anymore! They should take pictures of them and those at their walls, and not body parts.
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So true my friend. A picture on a wall is far better than tusks!
 
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Hawkeshead said:
Hi Gavin, thanks for the comments. These were taken in a conservancy near Amboseli NP where Craig has been for a while. The problem is that Tanzania govt are approving licences for an area outside of any NP’s but within the the elephants migratory routes to and from Amoseli. The wildlife, tourism and conservancy groups in the region are trying hard to raise public awarenes to generate challenge to the issuance of the licences. Africa Geograpghic have produced some excellent articles on this.
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Thanks for the feedback John .
I am a subscriber to Africa Geographic Publications and follow their articles with interest.
Regards
Gavin
 
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Really nice sighting and photos. Surely there must be a way to protect super tuskers from licensed hunters while allowing "regular elephants" (eg non super tuskers) to be legally hunted. I am not a hunter myself, but those who think hunting (even with select animals like elephants) should be banned are ignorant of reality. Countries like Kenya who have banned elephant hunting continue to see drastic declines in their numbers whereas countries with regulated elephant hunting like Botswana see numbers steady or increasing. Consider this fact: 80% of the remaining bush elephant population lives in countries with legal hunting of elephants.
 
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First, I am fairly certain that there are more factors at play than just hunting regaeding the elephant population in different countries. It never is only one factor.

And I don't have an issue with hunting in general, what I take issue with is trophy hunting. That is just utterly pointless, and quite pathetic to be honest. It is also sad, because it actively destroys and kills beauty because it is beautiful. It's not even a thrill anymore, modern weapons took that away.

Hunting for food, population control and all that is fine. Especially in places with limited predator populations, it is virtually necessary. Hunting the mostagnificent specimens so is stupid and a waste, because it removes the strongest from a population, quite the opposite of what mature does. Predatory animals remove the young, the sick, the weak and the old. Trophy based hunting is a travesty of this. Bring driven by a guide close to an animal, use a high caliber rifle and scope at range on a target that barely realized you are there is neither difficult or dangerous. Not sure what people want to proof doing it.
 
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I'll vote for #1 as well. How many people have derived a great deal of pleasure from seeing or photographing those mature bulls compared to the one "hunter" who got a thrill out of killing such a magnificent animal. Just as with humans, it's the older males that keep the young males in line and out of trouble with humans. Remove the mature bulls and the young guys run wild creating problems.
 
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