A “Super Tusker” is a bull elephant with tusks that can grow up to 2.5 meters long and weigh 45 kg (99.2 pounds) each. The best opportunities to see super tusker elephants are in Kenya’s Tsavo Conservation Area. There are 43 of them, of which 10 are mega tuskers and 33 are young tuskers (2022). The protected area covers 42,000 sq. km and is made up of Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks (TCA)
TCA is a key area for elephant conservation that focuses on preventing poaching for ivory and protecting habitats by mitigating human-elephant conflicts. The Tsavo Trust plays the lead role to oversee the lives of over 15,989 elephants in TCA alone which represents about 40% of all elephants in Kenya. The first super tusker was identified in 2013, when Richard Moller the founder of Tsavo Trust and team leader of 60 wildlife rangers observed several bulls.
Situated in southeast Kenya, the TCA is part of the semi-arid landscape containing red soils, rock kopjes, acacia savanna and riverine forests that occur along the Galana River. In Tsavo East, elephants are known to bathe in red dust and muddy pools towards Taita hills which has effectively altered their colour appearance into the “Red Elephants of Kenya.”