The Story of Tim- The Mighty Tusker of Amboseli

This is the story of Tim, the most famous African elephant in recent memory. He was the most impressive elephant I have ever encountered in the years of travels in the wilds, and will always be my favorite and most memorable.

Tim’s life began in the savannah’s and swamps of Amboseli National Park in Kenya, East Africa. He was estimated to be born in 1969, to the famous “T” family, which was this named and categorized by the iconic Dr Cynthia Moss and her elephant research team in Amboseli National Park. Hence the letter is given to this family, all members females and calves born to this family were given names with the letter “T”. This when Trista gave birth to a healthy male elephant in 1969 he was named Tim. His grandmother Teresia also had long straight tusks, and she bore another two big tuskers a male and female named Tolstoy and Theodora.

Over the years the genes of the T Family which results in large tusks showed clearly as he grew to become a fine young bull, and as he matured his ivory grew to its distinctive shape. One tusk almost touching the ground and the other curved inwards.

Tim in 2012 still maturing and growing

Thankfully poaching in Amboseli was quite low and hence he managed to survive until full maturity, and became one of the most dominant bulls in the eco system.

Despite this, he was well known as a crop raider and used to rain many of the plantations and farms outside the protected park boundary. In 2014 he was treated to a bad injury in the rump by a spear.

In 2016 he was seen with a spear sticking out of his head, and knowing there was relative safety in the park he was seen walking around with this injury until he was subsequently treated. 

Tim with a spear sticking out of his head

Tim being treated for a spear wound

In September of the same year, the park decided to radio collar him in order to help keep track of him and his movements and hopefully avoid further issues.

Tim being darted and tranquilized to fit a radio collar on him

Tim with his new radio collar

But this did not stop him, and around 2018 he broke his collar. He continues to get into mis-haps and near death experiences it seems as once again in December 2018 he got stuck in deep mud in the Kimana swamp. The rangers of the Big Life Foundation were alerted and a herculean operation ensued where he was pulled by a tractor with multiple breakages of the straps, to gradually pull him over 25m over muddy terrain to finally enable him to gain a firm footing at the last light of day, and avert a disaster.

Tim stuck in the mud

Tim stuck in the mud

He was often found outside the park itself mostly in nearby surrounding conservancies and forest patches during the day, usually accompanied by a large group of young males who follow him. Sometimes his relative and “uncle” Tolstoy was also seen with him and when I visited in 2019 his lookalike Craig who had similar tusk shapes albeit slightly smaller was with him. The rangers have a daily task of chasing him and the others back to safety as they end up raiding many of the crops in the local farms, eating the fresh product like tomatoes. This would en-rage the villagers and the fear was always there for retaliatory action against Tim.

Sadly and shockingly, Tim died in February 2020, apparently due to natural causes which were said to be a twisted gut. But the question remains if the multiple tranquilizers used to sedate him for different purposes over the years took a toll on his health. Nevertheless he was gone to us, and it came as an absolute shock to many around the world. Tim had managed to capture the minds and hearts of thousands of people the world over.

His tusks were massive and once extracted and weighed were a an astounding 71 KG and 68KG each. If he had survived a few years longer, his tusks might have even reached 80KG. 

My memories with him will remain forever engraved in my heart. From my first quest to see him in 2016, and how I finally saw him on the final day of our tour. I still remember my adrenaline pumping hours after our encounter. It was like nothing I could have imagined. My life’s dream of photographing a big tusker of Africa became a reality.

Then three years later, I once again met him face to face outside the park, this time much closer and on foot. Spending over 3 hours with him and his companion Craig, it was truly an unforgettable experience. Sadly I never realized that this would be the last time we see each other again as he died the next year a week before we were to leave for Kenya to try and see him again.

The memory and legacy of Tim will last forever and he will always be the gentle giant of my heart. 

Memories-My First Camping Trip in the Wilds

I will never forget the first meeting of the Wildlife Society which I attended in 1997.  I was the youngest member, and all the other boys were seniors in their late teens. This did not hold me back and I signed up for the first trip of the year, which was a 5 day camping excursion to Udawalawe. The cost was very minimal back then, and the charge per head was around 400 Rupees.  The master in charge Mr. Nirmal Fernando also known as “A.E.N Sir” due to his initials was a very tough character and I was mortally afraid of him as he was our caning master in school, and I had received quite a few lashings in my first term at College. Nirmal Sir in the future years became a very close mentor of mine, and even to this day is like a father to me.

The plan for the trip was that we assemble in front of the College gate at 4.00 AM in the morning. My mother had to dive me there, and brought along Nishantha one of my neighbors as a chaperone as she would have to drive back alone in the dark, as my father was overseas on work. I remember it was a very organized affair, and there were around four jeeps in total, all provided by one of the parents of the boys named Rohan Kulatunga, who we called Rohan Uncle, who would play a big role in most of my jungle adventures in the coming years. We departed at around 5.00 AM, and I was put in a jeep along with all the other junior members, Daham, Bimantha and my cousin Dilsiri. I was the only fresher as the others had gone on trips before me, and I had a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness. This is the first time I was off on my own without my parents and my mother ensured that I had everything I needed, from food, to a complete list of clothes and toiletries. I remember my mother was worried about mosquitoes and ensured that I take a dose of quinine as well as a full stock of repellent. She had packed her famous home made pizzas for my breakfast, and as soon as the seniors got a whiff of it, it disappeared before I could even have a bite. The ride seemed long and tiring, reason being that the roads weren’t as good as they are now, and also because these jeeps were old land rovers and land cruisers and were not made for comfort, but I did not mind, the adventure was something I was looking forward to for a very long time. We reached the park entrance by noon, and headed towards our campsite, Alimankada (Elephant Pass). I was tremendously excited about the fact that we were camping next to a river.  But I did not have time to be idling as there was lots of work to do, as 30 of us got together to set up the campsite and prepare lunch. After a good meal we had a nice cool dip in the river, but Nirmal Sir did not let me go too far as he was responsible for my safety and thus kept me close to the riverbank. The evening game drive was not that eventful and I cannot recall any sightings of elephants. 

Back at the campsite, I had a major dilemma. I need to answer the call of nature, but as I had never been in the outdoors, I was very uncomfortable of going the bush to relieve myself. I asked the cook Ranji to accompany me, and I still remember me being very embarrassed that I had to go out in the open where everyone can see me.  In the night we all gathered around the campfire, and Nirmal Sir, Rohan Uncle and the seniors shared with us their experiences and knowledge about the wild. I was allocated to a tent where all the juniors slept. It was very uncomfortable I remember, because it was raining and the tent was leaking from certain areas, and the heat was pretty unbearable.

In the morning we had a nasty surprise, someone had left some fried “papadam” underneath a jeep at night, and entire army of “kadiya’s” had invaded the campsite. There were literally millions of these soldier ants whose bite was very painful and they were all over the campsite and despite the efforts of using Kerosene oil, we were left with no choice but to move camp. 

The new campsite was called Pansadara, which was a much larger and we had more room to spread out our tents.  During the evening I witnessed my first herd of wild elephants.  I also recall an encounter with two big bulls that had a brief face off before engaging in a short duel. I noticed that many of the boys had cameras with them, and I was longing for one of my own, to capture all these memories. This yearning is what made me try my hand at photography many years later.

 The following days got me accustomed to the rhythm of the jungle life, I learnt many camp chores such as how to pitch a tent, how to clean vegetables for the kitchen, and how to light and clean a hurricane lantern. These and many more skills have helped me take on any problem and hardship in life. I will always remember this first venture into the jungles of Sri Lanka, as it not only gave me the first taste of the wilderness, but it made me who I am today.

The Mighty Sando

Sando , the name alone brings shivers to anyone who has encountered him. He is the most dominant and aggressive tusker in Yala National Park. So aggressive, hes single handedly responsible for ramming many safari jeeps and chasing down even more.

He is said to be responsible for brutally attacking other bull elephants including Gemunu the famous tusker of Yala.

He appears in Yala when hes in musth, which is a heightened state of aggression male elephants come to when their testosterone levels are elevated and is the time they are most aggressive and are seeking mates. During this time, bulls don’t think about food, and are always agitated and on the move looking for females in estrous or in season. Males in musth usually secrete a pungent oily substances from the sides of their cheeks and dribble urine constantly. Studies have shown that when bulls reach musth they are able to compete and dominate other males even those bigger than them to win a chance to mate.

Sando was named because, he had smashed an Irrigation Department double cab in a lake close to Yala Block III few years ago. And hes been visiting Yala Block I every time he comes into musth.

He was even sighted in Kumana where he had whacked a jeep two years ago. Hence his range is quite vast and you never know where he would turn up.

I have been wanting to see this giant tusker for quite some time. I remember heading to Yala in 2014 after hearing of his appearance. But not having any luck. The same happened in the following years, and I was thinking what bad luck I had given everyone else who headed to Yala had a close encounter with this giant.

Finally in 2019, we set off with hopes of finding him. On our first evening safari we saw him at quite a distance with some females, but could not get a clear shot. It was amazing to see so many vehicles lined up and watching him, knowing his fearsome reputation.

The next day morning we headed back in quite early, and entered from the Katagamuwa side, and while driving on towards the Yala junction we got news hes been spotted close to Komawewa on the main road. Heading to the location we just missed him as we saw his massive behind disappearing into the bush. We turned into Komawewa and took the road towards Suduwelimulla, when we came across him on the road, but walking extremely fast towards the bush. We could not get a good sight of him as he disappeared once again.

We turned onto the main road once again, and from the Diganwala area a jeep flashed their lights, and our drive excitedly sped on the road towards the jeep, not knowing what this guy was signaling about. To our shock Sando was on the move and about to cross the road from the start of Diganwala, which was blind to us on the left, and luckily passed him fast, as if we had stopped in front on him he would have surely rammed onto the jeep and toppled us.

He crossed the road and walked briskly to the other side. He was in a daze and was walking all over the place. We headed to Kota Siyambala area hoping to anticipate him appearing from that side , and waited for quite some time with no luck.

Thereafter we thought, maybe he has walked towards Medha Para and hence headed back towards that area. As soon as we turned to Medha Para, there he was, and was walking straight towards us. The driver froze, and we watched in awe at this colossus coming straight towards us. After a few seconds our driver decided its too close for comfort and began backing up and Sando kept on coming, until he decided to swerve to the right and go deep into the bush.

It was such an exciting sighting and we were left in awe at this majestic bull tusker. Seeing him finally was amazing and I have to say this is one of the most exciting moments I have had in Yala.

Kabini- A Venture into Nagarhole National Park

Nagarhole National Park, popularly known as Kabini due to the Kabini River, is a very popular wildlife destination in India, and famed for its sightings of a rare individual leopard with Melanism, also known commonly as a Black Panther or Black Leopard.

I organized a tour to visit this park in December 2019, and along with a group of 10 clients, set off from Colombo.

The flight was very short, and we reached Bangalore airport in 1 hour.

We landed at 2.30 AM and thereafter had a long 5 hour drive to Kabini River Lodge, which was our abode for the next 4 days

En-route we stopped over at Mysore for breakfast and reached the lodge by around 11.30 AM. The reception area onwards we could see the beautiful sprawling campus that is Kabini River Lodge. Once the personal hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore, it was a very charming property with old buildings and a colonial nostalgic feel to the whole place. After check in processes were done, a naturalist gave a tour of the lodge and its schedules. The entire safari program is managed by the lodge and is scheduled.

 The Reception

 Jeewaka making fun of me for eating the cutlets Ranee made for us

 The old colonial buildings were quite charming

 Beautiful Sprawling Campus

Waiting to check in

Our rooms were charming tented cottages, which were very clean and neat. The meals are served in a restaurant area, with a large spread of Indian cuisine. Thereafter tea is served at 3.00 PM followed by the jeep safari. Allocations of the vehicles and park zones we are to visit are all determined by the Lodge.

Our group were assigned 2 jeeps, which were very comfortable and spacious.  Infact these were the most comfortable jeeps I have ever been in.

The naturalist for my jeep was Wijay and our driver was Amjad, both worked together to get us the best sightings possible. They were top class guides and infact the best I have seen in India.

Wijay and Amjad

Our first venture was to the A Zone, which is best known for the Black Panther, as soon as we entered, I noticed the thick and tall foliage and trees, which were very interesting. There were open fire lines which ran across the zone, which gives a long range view. In one of these fire lines I saw a very large tusker and urged Amjad to drive towards him. It was a very impressive animal with thick long ivory. Initially I thought this was the famous Mr Kabini who had the most impressive ivory I have seen from an Asian Elephant, but it wasnt as this was a younger elephant. But nevertheless the tuskers in Kabini are far more impressive than the ones we see in Sri Lanka. The tusker quenched his thirst by the nearby water source and continued feeding on the grass.

We moved on, and continued our search. I noticed the sheer determination and observations of both driver and tracker which truly impressed me.

We turned on to a forested path, where we stopped and lied in wait as we heard the alarm calls of the Grey Langur's . After waiting around 20 minutes Wijay noticed a leopard coming out into the open, it was a female, and in a flash it crossed the road and dissapeared into the bush. Continuing our drive, we came across a large herd of elephants. It was impressive to note even in this herd we observed two young tuskers. On our way out, we came across the largest Indian Bison or Gaur which I had ever seen. Unfortunately the light was so low, I could not capture a good photograph. But the muscles and sheer size of this animal was very impressive.

Returning back to the lodge we were welcomed with tea and snacks and at night a very impressive dinner. This was truly a world class lodge, and a place which was very well managed. It is surprising to note its a state run property and yet so well managed.

Early the next day we headed on our second safari to the A Zone, we observed a mixed flock of birds, we simply switched our engines off and observed the many calls. We noticed there were quite a number of Raquet Tailed Drongo's among this flock.

The park it self is full of life with many Spotted Deer, Grey Langur, and Wild Boar roaming around.

Back at the lodge we enjoyed a lovely breakfast and spent the remainder of the day at leisure until our next Safari time.

That evening we ventured once again to the B zone and headed to a known water hole where Wijay claimed a mother and three semi adult cubs are seen. We waited there for over an hour, in idle waiting for something to happen, but nothing really did. Then another jeep drove towards us and the guides and drivers were having a friendly chat, when the guide of the jeep suddenly shouted out “Tiger, Tiger” and we saw the cat we were looking on further up the road. Driving there, we noticed one tiger walking into the forest, and one remained on the roadside. Not wanting to startle the cat, we waited. It took over quarter of an hour as the cat who was seated near a small mound began walking towards the tree line. Suddenly it did what we never expected, as it climbed a tree. This was unprecedented and I have never come across a case of a tiger climbing a tree, and nor have our guides or drivers. But given their weight and size this is not natural to them unlike leopards, and the cat slowly slid back down, with its hind quarters first, showing its not comfortable with the practice whereas leopards come down head first. Thereafter the young tiger slowly walked towards another tree, scent marked and made itself comfortable and sat and watched us. 

It was a very eventful evening and as it was getting dark we left the beautiful cat and made our way out.  Just as we passed the tiger, we came across a sloth bear on the roadside. This was truly an eventful evening. 

The next day, we went along the park boundary, which was said to be a great place where tigers cross into the village and return back early morning. While driving we got news of a large male tiger asleep in the bush. We rushed to the site and saw the faint stripes and markings but could not get a clear view. We waited for over an hour but there were no signs of the big cat awakening, and hence we left this particular sighting and continued. The safaris itself were very pleasant as the surrounding forest habitats are beautiful and we came across yet another very big tusker. 

 The Tented Cottage at the Lodge

In the afternoon safari, we struck lucky with a pack of 6 Indian Wild Dog or Dhole, who I was dying to see, these tenacious animals are known as the top hunters in the Indian Jungle and known to take down animals much bigger than them. There are reports of super groups of wild dog even taking down tigers. Hence it was a pleasure to get up close with such a formidable predator. The pack was led by an Alpha who had a different coloration with a white underbelly which was not present in the others. When reading up about this it seems the more mature adult dogs have this white underbelly coloration. The unique call they were making was very un dog like, and hard to describe. 

That evening we came across one more tusker who was quite large , and as well as a large single tusker who crossed the forest path. This park truly is one of the best if not the best location I have come across so far for Asian tuskers. 

The next day was relatively uneventful, but we did come across another very large tusker with a female. Back at the lodge that night we celebrated our last night in this beautiful park. 

With Wijay our excellent Tracker

The next day morning safari, proved uneventful for our jeep, but our second jeep ended up in Zone A where they came across another tiger sighting. 

Overall it was sad to leave this place, and I hope to return back to this South Indian wideness paradise. 

With Bheemaiya the senior tracker