Alexander the Great elephant dies while his friend stands guard

The Kruger wildlife Park's famous elephant bull Alexander, died of a suspected heart attack Monday - closely guarded by one of his dearest male friends. When rangers approached Alexander's body, his friend then ripped out one of the fallen giant 's tusks.

Afrikaans newspaper Beeld journalist Sarel van der Walt writes that game ranger Johann Oelofse of Mooiplaas described the amazing wildlife drama, which occurred near the Mopani rest camp of the international Kruger reserve in South Africa, near the Mozambique border. Alexander often was spotted there, browsing with a male friend. He was famous for his gigantic tusks. Tourists said he seemed to just have dropped down and died. Vets believe he may have had a heart-attack due to a possible viral infection, caused by rodents. Alexander's friend clearly was griefstricken, the game-ranger said. 'He kept chasing off flocks of vultures and hyenas, and then he shoved his body against one of Alexander's tusks, gently curled his trunk around it, and ripped it out. We just heard this crunching noise when he pulled out the tusk.' What the younger elephant did next, was even more puzzling: he then gently carried the tusk some 8 metres away from the rangers and walked straight towards their cars, forcing them to back off. He placed the tusk in the middle of the road, walked back to his friend's body, stood at it for a bit longer, and then walked away, very slowly, into the bush. Oelofse says it took them 45 minutes to take the other tusk from the elephant's body - keeping a close lookout for the male friend, who may have returned. The elephant's behaviour cannot be explained - but it has also often been observed in nature that elephants often closely examine tusks they find in the field, and often carry them around for days, as if they recognise their former owners. Game ranger Susan Andjelkovac, who also was at the scene, said the younger bull seemed frightened and grief-stricken by his older friend's sudden demise."I don't know if he wanted to greet him or wake him up, ' she said, but several times, he pushed his tusks underneath Alexander's head, trying to lift it." Scientists are now examining Alexander to find out what had killed the giant animal, writes Beeld journalist Buks Viljoen. They believe he might have suffered a heart attack from a viral infection which originates from rodents in the park. The tusks are kept in Skukuza's giant ivory vault. "We haven't weighed them yet, and can't even begin to guess how much they might weigh,' Oelofse said. see