Return of Miura

The bai continues to attract high numbers of elephants, mostly adult females and their young with only a few sizeable bulls. A few days ago we encountered a big bull in the river below camp upon our return after the daily observations. He calmly backed off and awaited our passage. I could clearly see that both ears were distinctly marked, the right ear with a big circular notch and the left ear with a noticeable hole. He was stocky in stature and with massive tusks which pointed straight with little curve. Small round ears whose lobes didn’t reach beyond his jaw. I kept this mental picture in my head not knowing if I had seen him before. Returning home I composed a line drawing and then made a search for a matching identity card. There he was, “Miura,” named by some Spanish tourists who told me that his name signified a race of bulls of the bovine type.

Miura was first identified in August 2007 when he was seen in musth and observed for a series of days between the 7 – 14th of August in the clearing. He wasn’t successful at finding a female but spent most of those days in the clearing. Since 2007 he hasn’t been observed so we wonder where he has been spending his time.

Miura, April 2011

Yesterday he entered the bai from the direction of the river where we had identified him. He spent a few hours in the bai and then headed back to the river where we again encountered him and two other younger bulls. They all walked up river in front of us clearing the way for us to return home.

Miura, August 2007

First Twins at Dzanga

Although twinning has been observed in elephant populations in Africa, we had never recorded this event at Dzanga. Throughout the years of the study we have recorded many births to known females but they have been single births. To date we have recorded more than 900 calves born to known females, a period of twenty years.

This all changed two weeks ago when just as we were packing up to leave after the daily observations when a female entered the clearing from the south. This entrance is a wide trail winding down a sandy hill. The female, Habiba, was accompanied by a very small calf which I estimated to be at least two months old. I was busy trying to identify the female with the spotting scope when the assistant Bounga pointed in the direction of Habiba and said that she had been accompanied by two calves. I then looked again through the scope, a distance of 400 meters and there were two calves of the same size and who looked alike. We waited five minutes to see if any other females were entering but Habiba was the only adult female in the vicinity of the calves. So we concluded that indeed the two calves were twins. We remained for another ten minutes before departing for camp and still no sign of another female.

Habiba is a female who is very distinct but not one of the regulars to frequent the clearing so verifying the twins may take time since we will await the next time she appears in the clearing to see if she again accompanied by the two calves. I was also able to determine that the twins were a female and a male.

Juvena and Habiba in April 2003