Dzombo's (pronounced D-zom-bo) name derives from the Tsonga word 'dzombolo' which means to wait for something that is slow in coming. He was named after the Dzombo stream, a tributary of the Shingwedzi river, located in his home range.
Dzombo met an untimely death at the age of 48-50 years in October 1983. He died in a hail of bullets from an AK47, near a waterhole known as Dzombyane. He was the only one of the Magnificent Seven to be killed by poachers and it was only by a stroke of luck that Dzombo's two tusks were not lost. The thieves were in the act of chopping out the ivory when they were disturbed by the approach of Ranger Ampie Espag. They fled leaving their trophies behind.
Special Features: Dzombo's tusks are the classic shape of Kruger's elephants, bowed and curved, pointing forward and slightly upwards.
Left tusk: length 255 cm, mass 56.8 kg, circumference at lip 50 cm
Right tusk: length 237 cm, mass 56.8 kg, circumference at lip 51 cm
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