“Fortunately, being past his breeding prime, Satao likely already passed on his ‘big tusker’ genes many times over before he fell victim to the poachers poison arrow.” ~ Andrew Wyatt
It’s been months since I was in the ‘hot-box’. The unseasonal rain that scattered Tsavo’s elephants has passed and we have seen the return of the dry season winds. In the past few weeks, they’ve wicked the moisture from the surface of the soil and the grasses have brown-withered. The days of plenty are over. Elephants can no longer rely on the seasonal waterholes and wallows, and are returning to permanent water.
In my absence, the steel filming hide we call the ‘hot-box’ had become a ‘wet-box’ – it had been submerged for months. We spent the first hour of the day bucketing out a ton of anaerobic sludge. I spent the hours afterwards, evicting toads and giant centipedes that had sought refuge in the gloomy, fetid interior.
Last year, I spent several weeks confined underground in it. In all that time, I never saw as many elephants as I…
View original post 1,293 more words
The Last Word on Wildlife 
Very interesting. I never considered that poaching affects tusk size. Makes sense now. So much for the myth of indigenous humans and the idea that they are the best stewards of the land.