Report information
Around midnight last night we lost track of Mac and all settled down to sleep out the rest of the night where ever we could find a dry spot. By sunrise this morning the rain had stopped and we set of to catch up with Mac again, downloading his hourly location via a GPRS connection and using the VHF transmitter in his collar to track him in the field. Most of the morning was spent following him on foot, recorded activity data and looking for faecal material that will be used to monitor changes in his hormone status through his musth cycle.
Just before midday he moved into an area of woodland too dense to follow him safely so we returned to the landie to leapfrog him once more. Early this afternoon we were following him as he walked when suddenly he startled and ran off.
Another, smaller bull, also in musth, stormed from the bush and gave chase. We followed them for about 300m into a dry river bed where Mac had stopped and turned to confront the younger bull. It was obvious to even to us how the other bull slipped from a dominant to decidedly more uncertain disposition. They faced off for about 20 min in the river, Mac occasionally thrashing a shrub, the young bull shifting from foot to foot and slowly backing away.
As the dynamic shifted in Mac's favour we decided that where we had stopped the landrover we effectively blocked an escape route of the younger bull, placing us in a vulnerable position. We started the vehicle to move forward, this broke the tension and the smaller bull bolted. Mac strode around the place he had been standing, clearly the dominant bull. Mac is back, after almost two year's absence!
Michelle identified the other elephant as as Seed, a young bull we have seen regularly since 2003. Later this afternoon Mac rested, had a mud bath and then started walking once more.
Best wishes,
Steve Henley
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