Elephant Kings
Great Tuskers and the Weight of History
Following the immense global interest in tuskers after the passing of Craig earlier this month, many questions have arisen about these extraordinary elephants and the immense ivory they carried. To help place Craig—and great tuskers like him—into historical context, we share the following insights, many drawn from Dr. Johan Marais’ book Great Tuskers of Africa.
The Heaviest Ivory Ever Recorded
Although not officially listed in Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game, the heaviest single tusk ever recorded was exhibited in Paris in 1900. This remarkable tusk weighed an astonishing 258 pounds (117 kg) and originated from Dahomey (modern-day Benin) in West Africa. Sadly, the current whereabouts of this tusk are unknown.
There are also historical references to an even more extraordinary pair of tusks. In 1872, the explorer Sir Richard Burton wrote of tusks weighing 280 pounds (127 kg) each, reportedly sent from Mozambique to the King of Portugal. While these tusks were never officially verified, their mention underscores the immense ivory that once existed across Africa.
The World Record Tusks: The Kilimanjaro Bull
The largest verified tusks ever recorded belonged to an elephant known as the “Kilimanjaro Bull.” This legendary tusker was shot in 1898 on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro by Senoussi, one of the ivory hunters working for Hamed bin Muhammed, better known as Tippu Tip.
According to Senoussi, the elephant was not exceptionally large in body size, but his shoulders and haunches were well developed. His tusks were so long that they reached the ground, curving inward until their tips almost touched. To walk without the tusks digging into the soil, the bull had to lift his head high with each step.
When the ivory reached Zanzibar in 1898, the tusks were weighed:
- Left tusk: 232 pounds (105.3 kg)
- Right tusk: 228 pounds (103.5 kg)
The tusks were sold in Zanzibar in 1900 for $5,000—a vast fortune at the time—and purchased by the American ivory trading company Arnold Cheney & Co. They were displayed publicly before being sold separately.
- The left tusk was acquired by the British Museum in 1901.
- The right tusk went to the Sheffield cutlery firm Joseph Rodgers & Sons, where it stood at the entrance to their showroom.
In 1932, after mediation by Rowland Ward Ltd, the right tusk was also sold to the British Museum. After nearly 30 years apart, the tusks were reunited and placed on exhibition. Following an attempted theft in 1937, they were removed from public display and stored securely in a vault beneath the museum, where they remain today.
This story is accompanied by a historic photograph taken in Zanzibar in 1898, showing the world record tusks displayed outside the door of E. D. Moore, agent of the American company that purchased them.
Craig and the Genetics of Great Tuskers
Tusk size in elephants is strongly genetically driven. For this reason, it is entirely possible that Craig—the great tusker of Amboseli—was a descendant of the Kilimanjaro Bull. Without such genetic inheritance, tusks of Craig’s size simply do not occur.
Craig’s existence well into his most prolific reproductive years allowed those rare genes to be passed on, something that is tragically uncommon today.
The Decline of the Great Tuskers
Two hundred years ago, large-tusked elephants were far more common across Africa. Historical accounts suggest that a significant percentage of adult bulls carried heavy ivory.
The catastrophic decline began in the mid-1800s, around 1850, driven by several converging factors:
- The invention and widespread availability of firearms
- Improved transport routes into Africa
- Exploding global demand for ivory for piano keys, billiard balls, jewellery, and decorative items
Bulls with the largest tusks were targeted first, often being killed before the age of 40, long before they could pass on their genes. Over time, this selective removal caused a genetic collapse in tusk size.
Today, Africa is home to approximately 400,000 elephants, yet it is estimated that fewer than 40 great tuskers remain.
Why Craig Mattered
Craig was not only a magnificent individual; he was living proof of what long-term protection can achieve. His survival into his mid-50s allowed rare tusker genetics to persist in the Amboseli population—something that would have been almost impossible a century ago.
Understanding the history of ivory and the loss of great tuskers helps us appreciate just how exceptional Craig truly was—and why protecting the remaining giants is one of the most urgent challenges in elephant conservation today.
His legacy lives on not only in memory, but potentially in the next generation of tuskers yet to walk the African landscape.
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