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 |