Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Taxi for Two

This is “Tee-Jay”, one of a handful of super tuskers that call Amboseli National Park in Kenya home. He was strolling through the tall grass on a lazy afternoon on his way home from the marsh. I particularly like that his great tusks are dragging through the top of the grass and that he is giving a ride to two oxpeckers. Elephants and oxpeckers have a symbiotic relationship where the oxpeckers eat the ticks and bugs from the elephant's skin, which helps to keep the elephants healthy. A “Super Tusker” is defined as a bull elephant whose tusks each weigh more than 100 pounds and there are estimated to be less than 20 of them left on the planet.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 03.2024
Date Uploaded: 11.2024
Photo Location: Kenya
Copyright: © Jim Guerard