Watch this video to really understand the meaning of “circle of life”.
This video tells the story of Mavuso, one of Pilanesberg’s dominant bull elephants!
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He used to rule the road, but, eventually, he needed to make room for the next generation.
Thanks to 4 Latest Sightings members, we managed to put together a story of the life cycle of Mavuso.
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Johan Theunissen is a park regular and shared with us the opening scenes of Mavuso in his prime.
Ashleigh Enslin, 52-year-old private dog park owner, and her husband, Colin, are equally enthusiastic when it comes to wildlife and animals. They filmed the elephant clash that took Mavuso tumbling down. She told LatestSightings.com the story:
“We left Johannesburg at the ridiculous hours of 4 am convinced we were in for the greatest big 5-day ever, as it seemed that the cats were leaping out of every bush and tree and parading down every road by the look of the ”tings” we were following on the Latest Sightings Pilanesberg Groups.”
“By the afternoon, we were tired, dusty and a little more than disappointed with the slim pickings so far, as even the ever-present impala seemed to be on holiday - so, we decided to head back to the exit gate via the shortest route. Coming over the rise, in the far distance we noticed a large herd of elephants grazing across a wide area when our gaze was captured by a cloud of red dust and movement.”
“As we got closer, we could clearly see two bull elephants sparring with one another. We pulled over at a safe distance, poured a sundowner, and watched the action. It quickly became evident that this was no mock-fight. The clash of tusks and intensity of the fight convinced us that this was an epic fight for dominance, but we could never imagine the tragic ending to it!”
“My heart was racing and the lump in my throat made it difficult to swallow. The older bull (Mavuso) seemed to rally and push back his aggressor, only to be pushed back again. Mavuso was one of the original 6 Kruger bulls brought into the park in 1998 and known as the “gentle giant” due to his relaxed attitude around visiting cars. The brute strength and courage shown by Mavuso ended when his opponent managed to push him over onto his side where he was gored several times. The rest of the herd alerted to the fight by activity and noise, rushed over trumpeting, and waving their trunks in obvious distress. Every now and then you could see Mavuso rocking around on the ground trying to stand again, then the herd gathered around him but were hopeless to assist such a giant.”
“Realizing there was not much more to see, and that we had a fair distance to cover before getting to the gate, we reluctantly left. The following day we entered the park and found him there still. There were several members of the herd that had stayed next to him and you could see him still trying to get up, but, obviously, weaker than the day before. So, realizing there was nothing to be done, we reported the sighting to the relevant groups.”
In the coming days, Myer and Cheryl Pincus visited the park and went to the location of Mavuso’s carcass. They were incredibly lucky enough to capture the scenes of probably Mavuso’s old herd coming up to him and paying their respects.
Helgardt Pretorius, a 31-year-old Commercial Piot visited the park on the 10th of September and told Latest Sightings that they saw the ting of the dead elephant come in, and, knowing this, they decided to go and see what was happing at it.
“It was a cloudy morning and as we got to the spot where the elephant was ultimately reported, a lioness was feeding on the carcass with a sub-adult male. They rotated and, at some stage, 3 lionesses were feasting on the remains along with a youngster right on-top of the carcass!”
“It was a strange sight. We were happy to see it, excited even, but we also felt sad. It’s sad to see such a once-powerful animal, now being reduced to nothing. Our sighting ended with the lions moving off to find some shade to rest in, a few meters away.
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RIP Mavuso. He lived a long life, and at least he died of a natural cause, instead of poachers. It's sad to see him go, but at least it was an inevitable death and not one caused by greed.
Cintrón Productions He didn’t Rest In Peace, he got ate (and later shat out) by a pride of lions.
He died due to another envious elephant wanting his dominant position, I’d say that he did die due to greed. Also it’d be way worse to know that you got killed by someone who you potentially trusted rather than someone who is potentially untrustworthy such as humans. Death by humans would be horrible, but at least they would make it quick. This guy was gored and left there screaming for a day or two suffering while those who he probably commanded watch his fall from grace. The only reward for the strong in the wild for surviving is betrayal by your kind, kind of like in our society.
KDMN he died in peace
@@arbabkhan12345 you must be young cause that is life in the wild no greed just dominance
Chinese poachers*
Rest well big fella
One elephant dies and tons of animals live thanks to that dead body and this’s life!
FAL calm down mufasa😂🤣
‘Tonnes’ maybe just a bit of an exaggeration
@@SD-es1gm LMAOOOO
RIP big man... we will never forget you. You've left behind an unbelievable legacy and everyone loves you. Happy days over the rainbow bridge I wish you! 💕 Thank you to KrugerSightings for sharing with us even the most hardest parts of nature, raw as they may be.
Bro, you didn't even know there elephant. "We will never forget you" "we all love you" "you left behind a legacy". Bro, it's an elephant. One you've probably never met or knew. Calm down.
@*Matthew Noneya* of course I knew him. I’ve been to the Kruger National Park and I saw him with my own eyes. Maybe not many people did, but I was one of those lucky ones. Don’t say stuff like “it’s just an elephant” cause then you can piss off from this comment section dude. Not cool.
@@KTPStudios04 Mavuso left Kruger National Park in 1998. For the last 22 years, until his death on 29 August 2020 he has been in the Pilanesberg National Park.
@@KTPStudios04 lol you got exposed. That elephant wasn’t even in the park you claim you used to go to kick it with the elephants. I’m not saying you didn’t go hang with elephants, but you for sure didn’t kick it with Mavuso. Quit talking like you sat down and ate bamboo with him. Did you know Rafiki as well?
What an accomplishment to live as long as he did in a world as this one where there are poachers, vultures, predators and other man induced threats at his back. He died fighting and until nature took its course. Brava old fella, a life thoroughly served.
I feel like you just described my life also.
Vultures are not a threat!
I noticed you mentioned vultures. I advocate for those very necessary birds. They may be ugly but they are not killers but instead are cleaners of the environment. Nature itself created these birds to safeguard the environment. In places where carcasses are poisoned or just left and vultures are not available to fill their niche the waste kills other animals as well as threatens people. Vultures should be praised as protectors of the environment.
Am sure saffron isn’t referring to those birds (Vulture).
with that logic, human murder should be legal as long as something eats the body 🤷🏻♂️
truly sad to see what was once an unrivaled power be brought to ground and die in a fight, even though he most likely did the same to many other elephants. he ruled for decades and the other herds came to pay their respects. rest well big guy
Simba - What's that father ? *background music intensifying* Thats the circle of life....
It's the ciiiiircleee of liiiiiife
@Tell0 64 witch we are just bc of our weapons, but we all die.... so, it’s pretty much the same
Mavuso had longer, almost straight tusks; his rival had them small and curved. Mavuso was actually overpowered by his advanced age ... In life, he was a good stallion who passed on an excellent genetic heritage to his offspring. Once dead, Mavuso has been generous in feeding his remains to scavengers and predators ... Mission accomplished, rest in peace, spirit of Loxodonta Africana ...
Very well said.
Bull. A male elephant is called a bull.
@@Crysomandiaz And 'tusks' not 'fangs'.
They're called "Tusks", not fangs, fangs are what snakes, spiders and some other venomous creatures have. Dopey 🤦♂️
It is always sad to see the demise of any animal but because elephants are so big and live so long, even more so. As the chatter before me has just said, Rest well big fella. ❤
Hi Annette gtsy! Totally agree with all you have said. Very sweet words, my friend. Have a nice day!
Even Sewer rats?
didn't think he'd lose with those huge tusks 😔
Rangers remove tusks
@@louielouiepks They meant the fight. Mavuso lost even tho he had way longer tusks than that younger bastard.
It’s not how big it is - it’s how you use it.
@@deletebilderberg that double meaning lol
He lost because he was already old and weak.
Sad to watch but he had a long life and wasn’t shot down by humans. Loved how the herd paid their respect to him, he was an incredible animal 🐘💕🐘💕
0:07 behold...... a five legged elephant!!!!!
oh no
Oh yes😏
@Yvonne Archer ummm....... i was talking about nose only! 😅
@@vladimirputin7308 so you wasn't talking about the elephants thing thank God lol
@@emongrier5391 hahaha😂😂 *being sarcastic
RIP Marvuso. It is sad. But he died in battle, doing what he was born to do. Perhaps among the herd we saw paying their respects are his offspring, carrying his lineage forward. In the end, his body provided sustenance to lions and other species, as well. It truly is the "circle of life."
Elephants are gloriously unconcerned with being related to a fallen elephant.. even unrelated ones will pay their due respects the same way. It doesn't matter who the dead elephant was, they seem to care.
@@rubrawolf even so being that those elephant s were in his territory it's safe to assume that at least some were his offspring
A sombre yet incredible tale...🐘
What a beautiful animal. Circle of life for you right there
The Circle of Life. Beautiful !!!
This is a great capture 👍🏾
R.I.P Mavuso💓He certainly was magnificent. Sad, raw, & unfortunate ending, extremely dangerous outcome nevertheless he has fed a pride with a voracious appetite. Thank you, KNP👍
Beautiful words, couldn't agree more ❤
@@KTPStudios04, Hiya Animal Lover😊Thank you, enjoy your week ahead. Ciao
@@carolenaleoni119 you do so too!
One of the most heart breaking scenes i saw. Fight brave, die in honor...rest in peace
The Cycle of life...
Circle There is lions
cumbayé bum ba yeee
@@lionsmichaeljackson9833 are
INCREDIBLE 🐘, THANKS YOU GOODNESS 🌟,❤️🖤💚🤎 FAMILY DAPHNE COTTON ALWAYS 💜
never soon before such about elephants. Thank you
*Lions: Hallelujah!*
Nature takes his own course the circle of life and death, respect for this free spirit 🙏🏼
That must have been tough to hear with that ellie being gored and watching the herd trying to help. Thank you for showing casing this.
Good morning everyone at Kruger Park, from England UK. ♥️
Goodnight from india ! To these Beautiful wildness
It was time for the next gen. Awesome video and story! Once king of the jungle, but now dead.
0:43 High trunk!
RIP Mavuso 🐘
When he was trying to get up from the ground I was hopeful but...alas!
Rest in peace dear feel
really fasinating video,loved it!!1
Glad you enjoyed it.
really beautiful video, i love these beautiful and massive animals :) keep doing it!
Are the algae blooms affecting any of the elephants there? (I was reading something about how it’s been killing a lot of elephants and other animals lately)
At least he died courtesy of a natural encounter rather than at the filthy hands of those awful poachers.
how old he has been?
poachers must be killed on sight they don't deserve to live
*At the hands of the Anglos like always.
@@impaugjuldivmax Well past his prime, we know that much.
@@CrazyIshan69 I mean elephants live aprox.~ 70-80 years. When was his prime and how it was filmed back then?
Looks a bit like he had a heart attack or something while fighting the other elephant.
My favorite animal in the wild. 😢
The older elephant should've just retreated and live to fight another day.
I feel so sad. I didnt know that elephants would fight a long time leader , a Bull that protected them all those years and to just turn on him fighting to cause death was so unexpected for me. Of coarse its nature to grow old and die, but looked to me he was Gord to death by other ELEPHANT. I really did not expect or know that elephants would do harm and battle another to death. Why wasnt it just a show of strength and older simply dies from natural
I don't think that was good/great at all. So that's life but to film the head of a herd for his whole entire life to have another bull GORE him to death with the caption " see ELEPHANT die natural death" is again 1 of many misleadingly posts featuring elephants being hurt and even tortured and I'm fed up with them. Then to continue the film by dragging that King of his herd out into the open so the filmed could capture a more gory detail of lions and birds ripping into jus still warm and barely dead body was done for sensational reasons to grab audiences. So that wasnt NATURAL AT ALL. THIS WAS A POOR EXCUSE TO TRY AND FIND THE WORST IN A ELEPHANT AND THEN STAGE THE REST BY SHOWING US HOW HIS BODY IS BEING TORN TO SHREDS. THIS ACTUALLY IS NOT HOW THIS PLAYS OUT RATHER A TUSSLE AND OLDER SIMPLY DIES FROM AGE.🤔🤨😠💔💔👎👎👎.
Kathleen Adriaensen He died naturally though, and he inevitably was scavenged by predators naturally, dragging the corpse out didn’t do anything to effect the natural process, and he wasn’t gored to death either, he was simply too weak to get back up, he inevitably went to sleep and never woke up or passed out from exhaustion as no predator can put down an elephant of that size even in such a weak state as a single thrash could break bone, never waking up and that was that
Larry Garoth Do you really think he wasn’t gored on the ground? I hope that is so. The standing elephant seemed to just push his tusks against the elephant that had fallen. Perhaps to gore him when he was down would have been against their natural behavior in this scenario? Regardless of the precise manner and his probable other victorious fights, I am sorry to see the old dominant elephant die.
@@janetgeller7272 I think he was gored. Bull elephants can be vicious. I've seen a bull elephant gore a harmless and aged cow elephant in the neck and she dropped like a stone and died within 30 minutes.
@@kathleenadriaensen7129 I don't think the comments above reflect the facts. The elephant (Mavuso) died on the Saturday after the fight with a younger bull. As you can see on the video Mavuso had an impressive set of tusks, at the time the second longest in the park. For that reason the fact that it was Mavuso that died in the fight was kept quiet for as long as possible to prevent attempts at poaching. The tusks were removed on Monday and is in safe keeping but by that time there were already lions on the carcass. It is for that reason that the carcass was moved into the open, so that those long tusks could be cut out without the danger of lions in the bushes. Also when it became known that it was Mavuso that died, people wanted to see the carcass and would be prepared to go off-road illegally to have a better view. The move also assisted in preventing that. The fact that the elephant is then eaten by lions, hyenas, jackals and other scavengers would happen whether a bull dies of old age or from a natural fight with a younger stronger bull. It also does not make a difference whether it lies between bushes or out in the open. Finally, on your remark that Mavuso was the head of the herd also does not reflect elephant behaviour. The head of the herd is the Matriarch. She protects and leads the herd. The bulls will roam on their own or in small groups of up to three or four. Only when they go into musth would they approach and stay close to a breeding herd in order to seize on a mating opportunity. Rest assured that the people that manage these aspects in the park have only the animal's best interest at heart. They are not affiliated with the four individual parties that contributed to the video. They were all visitors to the park and happened to be in a situation to take a video. Proof of this is that the fourth clip is actually not of Mavuso but of another elephant that died 10 days after Mavuso. I believe that it was an honest mistake by someone that did not have the facts as to which carcass was lying where. I hope this simultaneously answers some of the other questions that I picked up in going through the comments.
아...눈물나... 첫 장면에서 장엄하게 걸어오는 멋진 코끼리가 죽다니.. 코끼리 애호가로서 이 영상을 본 후 많이 슬프고 우울하다.,
What did you guys think of the story?
Very sad and epic seeing the big guy go down like that. What was the time frame between the fight and when he went down? He might have been defeated but he didn’t look that weak when he was chased off.
It was incredible yet sombre. 🐘
Same day it went down. But the whole few took days.
@@Latestsightings At least he died of a natural encounter rather than at the filthy hands of those awful poachers.
@@dannyvalentino328 Yes I agree. More info on the story. Mavuso does not look that weak when he fights the other elephant. The only guess I have is maybe the other elephant was able to seriously wound him with his tusk and Mavuso was not able to recover from such wound. But from the video it seems like Mavuso is just chased off and not injured in any serious way, so I don't know.
0:10... WHOA, BIG BOY... I SEE YOUR TRUCK ISN'T YOUR ONLY WELL-HUNG PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTE, NOW IS IT? YOU MUST BE PROUD OF THAT THING! =) 🐘
He wasnt quite ready to go, looked quite strong for an old guy.
Mavuso tenía los colmillos más largos y casi rectos; su rival los tenía pequeños y curvos. A Mavuso, en realidad, lo venció su avanzada edad... En vida, fue un buen semental que transmitió una excelente herencia genética a su descendencia. Ya muerto, Mavuso ha sido generoso alimentando con sus restos a los carroñeros y depredadores... Misión cumplida, descansa en paz, espíritu de Loxodonta Africana...
It's the law of nature!
I did not know Elephants kill each other till death. TKS for good animal videos.
RIP Mavuso
Our days here are numbered for all of us.
Home of the Jesus killing gang stalkers has hell to pay.
SD Man , Indeed :(
Starting at 0:25 were both bulls in musth? May have lead to the challenge by the younger bull.
Yes, both bulls were in musth.
He has fallen and he can't get up
That's the first time I've seen a big cat of any kind tuck into a big Elephant
A message to the Colombian mammoths, all the Gomphotheres of North, Central and South America, the North African elephants, all the Palaeoloxodon of Asia and the African bush elephants of the past: watch over Mavuso. 🐘😔
Good
Nossa valeu pelo vídeo é a primeira vez que eu vi um elefante derrubando outro!!!
Rest well mavulso
What was the fight about? Did the other long tusk elephant want to take over?
Yeh, it was a fight for dominance.
What was it about?????keys to the kingdom-female elephants. There can be only one king of the hill.
30 minutes I think.
Believe it or not elepehants are the most emotional animal on the planet.
Kema TV Global likes your content. It is live
With those huge tusks he lost?! Damn.
🙏😢❤
RIP
Жалко слона!
Чмоки 🐘
One day I wish to view one of these videos without the hysterics of some woman yammering uselessly, a child/children screaming in the background, or stupid music. It'd be nice to watch these with the sound on. Rest well big guy.
Rip mavuso
Is this normal? Is this how they fight, to death? I'm shocked. Thanks for showing this.😎
It's a myth that elephants are "Gentle Giants". Bulls in musth are homicidal and will naturally kill off the competition. Elephants have been anthropomorphized, they're not like humans, they are wild animals.
@Pulakeshin II Intelligence has nothing to do with what we call "emotions." The OP asked, "Is this NORMAL. Is this how they fight, to death...?" I was just pointing out the obvious fact that humans have given elephants all kinds of human emotions like compassion, love, hate, altruism and so forth. Animals don't have these things, no matter how intelligent they seem to us. The fact that elephants maintain some kind of social order and cooperate to protect the herd and form life long bonds, this doesn't mean that their behavior is in any way comparable to human emotions and reasoning. Everything elephants do is a function of survival--their only real motive is to survive. That's what elephants and all animals do. "Shocked" is a human emotion. For the bull elephant, killing or maiming an opponent is just as natural as taking a dump or eating a banana. There's no morality or ethical sense to taking out the dominant male. It's called evolution and you can blame that on Darwin (or God). After watching lots of KZhead videos on elephants, I find them to be extremely boring animals who only eat and eliminate bodily waste--once in a while they mate and females take care of their babies. Baby elephants are cute and much more interesting, they're just like Disney characters. But when they grow up, they become boring except when threatened or if they are male, they fight to take out the competition.
@Max Powers Man is infinitely more powerful than elephants. Just search KZhead for "Hunting elephants". Between a man and elephant, there's no competition for man invented the Elephant Gun! One bullet to the brain and one dead elephant. Lots of videos with hunters leaning against dead elephants.
How old was he
Why did the park move the carcass into the open, does anyone know? What purpose was served?
Looks like the locations doesn’t match where Mavuso was lying down and where the lionesses were feeding on that elephant carcass.
There’s an explanation written on screen during the video. His body was moved into the open by park rangers.
Broke his leg in the 5th round.
He has a kick stand !
He probably was injured during the fight..
lions became hayenas😂
Why hunt when there’s a feast already prepared?
Why did he die? he didn't look particularly injured or malnourished.
🥺♥️🐘♥️🙏🏽😭
@Kruger Sightings. The footage of Helgardt Pretorius is not of Mavuso. This was another bull that picked up burn wounds during the fires in the park during August. He died on 8 September from the injuries and on the 10th those lions were on the carcass. fb.watch/2q01mmFIfx/.
So tusk size doesn't matter much
I think strength matters. He was big, but weaker.
@@Latestsightings weaker because of old age?
it appears that those elephants who were either of the herd or came across the carcass mourn the death of the departed and move on.the mortal remains are consumed from the mighty to the tiny .life goes on.gn raju
How did the other elephants move him? Did they carry him with there trunks?
The rangers remove the tusks and put the body in the open for predators to find.
What exactly happened? Was he wounded and then died cause he couldn’t get back on his feet, or was he killed outright by the younger bull? How long did it take for him to die?
Yeah I need these details as well otherwise this video is worthless.
@@Been.Here.Since.2007 both of you, google, or read the discription... 🤨
Why would the park move him? Just to be able to observe the aftermath?
Apparently so
Oh
😞
Had been led to believe from all my reading and viewing that elephants went out of their way to help a member of their own. How was it then no help was offered to right this fellow while he was struggling to get up? They certainly could have pushed his backside to assist with rising.
It was a fight for the doninant role of the herd. They know that, that's why they don't interfere
روعة
Well that's 80 years of their lifespan
Touching video but why move the body, seems a bit disrespectful,no offense intended, just wondering
He was very well known. This was done to prevent people off-roading to have a look at the carcass.
The fact they have a funeral is wild
👍
In his final days Mavuso was weak and frail, like very veryx20 strong human...
It looked like he got punctured on his neck from the new male. I wonder if he bled out at all. Can see him dripping blood at the end of the fight
The younger one to the older one: You have become irrelephant.
Нифига себе битва гигантов
3:23 lol cats have no respect or reverence 😆
02:47 i dont understand, why did the park move the elephant into the open?
Probably so the other elephants could pay their respects
@@HannibalKantter yeah, if he stayed in the bushes (with the other elephants present, nonetheless), they would just have moved on, right? jesus christ, what's going on today? are only the stupid people allowed to roam here?
كيف حلك
So he was killed by a younger male elephant of his own herd?
jayday80 😔it seems that way. I was shocked now feeling really sad. I know that’s life but not keen on watching it.
Mavuso was a loner and did not have a herd to speak of. He would be seen on this own most of the time or with one or two other bulls that he would meet up with for short periods. When he got into musth he would merely seek out a breeding herd and stay close to them for an opportunity to mate.
Битва двух гигантов!
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
At least he won’t be put to waste
Look
Press f to play respects...