Makadebona

Makadebona is Zulu and means “the one who has been seen it all”. With tusks measuring almost 3 meters and weighing around 55 kg each, he was believed to be the 2nd largest tusker in South Africa. Tragically he died in 2013, leaving only few tuskers of his size behind. 

In fact, even though Makadebona died from deep head wounds during a fight with a rival bull, the event sparked appeals for better protection of Africa’s shrinking number of tuskers. 

According to Johan Marais, a Pretoria-based wildlife vet, there are only about 40 real tuskers – bulls whose tusks weigh more than 45kg each – left in Africa (2013). If the current level of ivory poaching will not fall, there won’t be any tuskers left within 10 years.