Trophy hunting threatens elephants with super tusks

Texan trophy hunter involved

The killing took place during a hunting expedition conducted by Kilombero North Safaris, in which a prominent American trophy hunter from Texas was allegedly involved.

In a statement it states: «Since 10 March, three additional licences are reported to have been issued, jeopardising the integrity of the Amboseli elephant population.»

This is reportedly the third “super tusker” to have been shot near the Tanzanian-Kenyan border within the past six months. “Super tuskers,” also known as “hundred-pounder” elephants, are male elephants with at least one tusk weighing 45 kg (100 pounds). It is estimated that only 50 of them remain in Africa. They are of crucial importance to the stability of elephant societies and theirhabitats and ecosystems.

Irreplaceable value to elephant society

Dr. Audrey Delsink, expert in elephant behaviour and Wildlife Director at Humane Society International/Africa, says: “It is incomprehensible that yet another of Africa’s iconic super tuskers has fallen victim to the relentlesshobby hunting of trophy hunters. The intrinsic value these bulls represent to elephant society through their genetics, as carriers of social knowledge and as cornerstones of the environment, is irreplaceable. Mature bulls have a decisive influence on the population and are of great importance for the future of younger males.”

«It is a myth that they are expendable when they reach 40+ years of age. This is not the end of their lives as breeding animals, but rather the point at which they achieve their highest reproductive success, and they should not be senselessly killed in their prime. The killing of these iconic animals is not only a biological travesty, but a moral tragedy and a stain on the conscience of humanity,» stated Delsink.

ElephantVoices, the Big Life Foundation and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants published a statement calling for an end to trophy hunting of elephants in the Enduimet area of Tanzania. «In the Amboseli population there are adult male elephants with some of the largest tusks on the continent, which is attributable to the unique genetic makeup of these elephants,» the statement reads. «Around 30 adult male elephants aged over 25 years use the Enduimet area and beyond in Tanzania as part of their habitat. For half a century, Enduimet has been a preferred area for a particular group of adult males.»

30-year moratorium broken

Elephants are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species, to which both Kenya and Tanzania are signatories. The listing promotes cooperation between countries to achieve conservation and management objectives for the listedspecies concerned. Since 1995, a moratorium on trophy hunting of this transboundary elephant population has been agreed between Kenya and Tanzania. After nearly 30 years, this moratorium was broken when two «super-tuskers» were killed south of the border in Tanzania, before a third killing occurred.

Studies have found, that male elephants devote a greater proportion of their energy to reproduction as they age. Mature elephant bulls such as these “super-tuskers” travel twice as fast and three times as far when they are in “musth,” a periodic state of intense testosterone-driven sexual activity. The “deliberate selection” of older “surplus” males targeted by hobby hunters thus has a detrimental effect on elephant society as a whole and can lead to population collapse or long-lasting negative population changes. The one-sided removal of these older Amboseli bulls through trophy hunting represents a massive threat to these migratory animals.

Role model function of older bulls

Older elephant bulls also serve as role models for younger males. The killing of dominant elephant bulls leads to the loss of important social knowledge and experience from which younger animals learn. Without guidance, young bulls may venture into risky environments and become more aggressive, leading to physical altercations and associated injuries, and even increased human-wildlife conflict.

Dr. Joyce Poole, co-founder and scientific director of ElephantVoices, says: “Fifty years of research on known individuals in Amboseli has shown that it is primarily males between the ages of 35 and 55 who reproduce. Hobby hunters who claim that older males are ‘deadwood’ simply have no understanding of the science. Males that have the chance to reach old age produce a disproportionately large number of offspring and pass their genes on to the next generation. By killing male animals with large tusks, hobby hunters harm elephant society, compromise the rare gene pool for large tusks in Amboseli, and diminish future tourism potential.”

After a hunt, it is common for parts of the elephant to be removed and claimed as trophies. It is alleged that in this case the elephant carcass was deliberately destroyed by burning in order to conceal the travesty that reduced this bull to yet another statistic in the ever-shrinking, already fragile “super-tusker” group.