I had a report of elephant dead in water by Chobe Game lodge. I met wardens from Ihaha and they had burned elephant carcass in morning and were tired and hungry. I thanked them for their help and told them to leave as we could handle it ourselves.
I attempted to pull it with my boat but it was not strong enough. I called people from Zambezi Queen and they promptly arrive with a large boat and helped me drag elephant to Elephant sands. The manager from Chobe Game lodge Johan met us there with their tractor and managed to drag elephant out of tourists view. Clive Butler also assisted us.
On returning by vehicle to take blood samples there were already 4 lions on the carcass. I chased them away and had some complaints from observers as they did not understand what we were doing. I later explained it to them and they were thankful.
On taking blood samples and moving the elephants ear I noticed a very obvious gunshot behind ear. It appears to be an AK-47 wound. This would be the probable cause of death.
Blood samples were dropped off at office.
Wardens from Ihaha burned the carcass the next morning as we had requested. They did not remove the tusks but in all fairness theses were very small.
