One of the oldest tuskers in the Kruger National Park (KNP), Duke, died on October 1 of old age. It has been estimated he lived in the KNP bush for over 55 years.
The elephant was discovered lying on its side along Makambeni spruit west of the S28 road, 5km from Crocodile Bridge Camp. Crocodile Bridge Section Ranger, Neels van Wyk, had noticed there was no movement from Duke’s collar signal for a few days and found the five-day-old carcass when he went to investigate.
“We are very saddened by this magnificent bull’s passing as he was very popular and had avid followers who always asked about him,” said HOD of Public Relations, William Mabasa. “In the past few years, there had been enquiries as to whether Duke was still with us.”
Emerging tuskers have been named after previous rangers and field rangers who made notable contributions to conservation and the KNP. Duke was named after Thomas Duke, who was based at Lower Sabie between 1903 and 1923.
