Shingwedzi

Shingwedzi was a massive bull with very unequal tusks. His right tusk reached a length of 264cm, while his left tusk only measured a length of 207cm. 

Because Shingwedzi’s tusks reached a total weight of 115kg, he is one of the famous and so-called Magnificent Seven elephants; known to be the biggest bulls ever found in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Magnificent Seven are the elephants adorning our bottles of Elephant Strength Gin.

Shingwedzi was named after the river and rest camp, where he spent his last couple of years. It means “place of ironstone” and derived from the Tsonga word “Ngwetse.”

Shingwedzi died of natural causes at the age of 65 years due to a heart attack. Like most of the other Magnificent Seven, Shengwedzi’s tusks are on display at the Letaba Elephant Hall, in South Africa.