14/07/2026
Meet the "Super Tusker" known as "IR2"!
This is the second last "tagged post" in this set, and I want to thank everyone for being so receptive to these. I'm tagging these as I thought people might enjoy them, and there will be more posts, but they won't all be tagged posts, so keep an eye on your newsfeed if you want to see them. :-)
IR2 is estimated to be up to 45 years old, and is one of the last of a rare genetic subgroup of African Elephants: He is considered one of the most elusive of the Super Tuskers, with limited sightings, and according to the Tsavo Trust, very little is known of his temperament. When we met him in Tsavo East, he was clearly in musth, so caution was the order of the day - low voices, slow movements, and giving him plenty of space was vital. Good practice around any elephants at any time anyway. Initially he stayed in around the brush, and we just waited and watched, and every now and again we'd slowly adjust our position to keep sight of him. Every now and again, he would sniff in our direction, but his movements stayed slow, deliberate and unbothered. Once he became comfortable with our presence, he stayed more out in the open, pulling up plants by the root, shaking the dust & soil into the air, and then eating the plants. I had picked a few background elements I wanted to position behind him, and a couple of framing options I wanted, so the rest of the time was spent trying to line those up and keeping my fingers crossed that he might turn to face me, and ideally wave his ears so I could catch them flared. I knew even before clicking the shutter that this would be a black & white image, and I really hoped the contrasty backlighting would work out. The intermittent dust & haze in the air helped with that a lot! I was trying to keep a low viewpoint to illustrate his size, but not so low as to lose the environment, as I think Tsavo is unique, and an important character in the story of these giants.
IR2 is a huge elephant. It's hard to gauge the size of elephants without a person for scale, but he looked to me to be about 12-13 ft tall, with tusks on the order of about 7ft in length.
These Super Tuskers are elephants that carry the genes for huge tusks. To be a super Tusker, at least one tusk needs to reach an estimated weight of 45kg/100lbs.
Due to relentless poaching and trophy hunting, Africa’s Super Tuskers are now extremely rare. Kenya is one of the countries which has made the most efforts to protect these magnificent beings, but they are still very rare, with as few as 30 in the world, according to Tsavo Trust, including approx 10 in the Amboseli area, and 12 in the Tsavo area. Some estimate that there might be 50 or more, but those numbers are speculative.
A Maasai friend of mine in Amboseli repeatedly, and with obvious frustration in his voice, told me that when the Big Tuskers & Super Tuskers in the Amboseli area head towards the Tanzanian border, they have to encourage them to turn back into Amboseli, as there is a very high chance that "...if he crosses into Tanzania, he won't come back. He will be shot by trophy hunters!" I find that quite upsetting.
I commented when we first met IR2, and another Super Tusker "Tee-Jay" that it was difficult to get a shot of the elephants, with the full tusks visible. Looking at the work of people like Dr Joyce Poole reminded me why that is. The elephants have figured out that some people want to kill them for their tusks, so when strangers approach at first, they consistently hide their tusks in a bush. They know that their tusks could get them killed. We all know that elephants are intelligent, but my obsession with elephants over the past 20 years has led me find so many surprises in people's research over the years about how intelligent they really are. They are differently intelligent to us, but a lot of recent neuroscience and behavioural studies have revealed that their level of intelligence might be closer to ours than we realise.
I feel honoured to have met IR2, Tee-Jay, and SO1, along with the other Super Tuskers and Big Tuskers we were privileged enough to find. Once we found them, I couldn't see where the challenge would be in shooting one dead, but I did find it extremely challenging to get images that I am proud of. This is one of my all-time favourite images. This is MY trophy. And I am very proud of it. I hope you like it.
Gear questions - some of my favourite elephant images were from fairly close, without crowding the subject - this included.
Canon EOS R5
Lens: RF 24-105 f/2.8 L IS USM Z
Picture: Michael O'Sullivan
Canon Ireland Canon EMEA Pro Canon UK PermaJet
