A giant has fallen.
The mighty elephant bull died in the Mponda block of the Kruger Park. Rangers found his carcass during a routine foot patrol on 7 November 2006 even before the vultures discovered it. Section ranger David Manganye reported that Masbambela had been seen shortly before his death and there are no indications of foul play. From the field signs around his body, it appears that Masbambela went down and for some time struggled to get up before finally passing away.
Masbambela’s tusks have been sent to the ivory store at Skukuza. His left tusk was a whopping 2.64 meters long whilst his right tusk was slight shorter at just over 2 meters. Both tusks were almost half a meter in circumference. His tusks are thought to be the second largest set sported by an elephant in the Kruger Park, with Duke having the most impressive ivory of all the elephants currently living in the Kruger Park.
Masbambela was not well known to tourists, as he spent most of his time west of Shingwedzi. Even Kruger’s elephant expert, Dr Ian Whyte, had only seen him a couple of times, usually from the air during the annual census. However, David Manganye reported that this year Masbambela started spending more time in the vicinity of his ranger post, and that between himself and the rangers they usually spotted Masbambela about once a week.
Masbambela means ‘one who can stand his man’. He was named after former section ranger Ben Pretorius who worked as a section ranger for more than 35 years. For more than 20 of these 35 years, Ben worked in the Shingwedzi and Punda Maria sections where Masbambela also made his home. Ben was well known by his staff for his physical strength and ability to work hard, resulting in his nickname of Masbambela.
Ben Pretorius was involved in the planning and development of the wilderness trails in the Kruger Park, and almost single-handedly built the Napi Trails Camp. He took early retirement in 2001 when the park was restructured, and passed away in 2002.
Story courtesy Kruger Park Times
Photograph courtesy Dr Ian Whyte
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