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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
A PROFESSIONAL hunter died after a raging elephant bull, suspected to be on musth, charged and trampled him while he was tracking it in Chewore North in the Lower Zambezi Valley. Ian Gibson was killed on Wednesday while in the company of a client, his company Chifuti Safaris confirmed in a statement posted on africahunting.com, a hunting safari website.

It said Gibson died instantly when the elephant suddenly charged from a distance of less than 100 metres and killed him.

The elephant was understood to be in musth, a condition where the bull had a surge of testosterone and would have been particularly dangerous.

Musth, which is linked to sexual arousal or establishing dominance, is a periodic condition in a male elephant bull, characterised by highly aggressive behaviour and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones.

Elephants in musth are dangerous as they tend to be highly violent towards humans and other elephants and act without warning or reasoning.

Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations officer Caroline Washaya-Moyo confirmed the incident yesterday but could not give further details.

She referred this publication to the wildlife authority for a posting she alleged to have made. However, the website had no such posting at the time of going to press.

According to africahunting.com, Gibson and a client had been on the tracks of the elephant bull for approximately five hours.

“Feeling he was quite close to the elephant, Ian and his tracker Robert continued to follow the tracks in the hope of getting a look at the ivory. They eventually caught up with the bull, spotting him at a distance of about 50m to 100m. The bull instantly turned and began a full charge,” Chifuti Safaris said.

“Ian and Robert began shouting in order to stop the charge. At very close range, Ian was able to get off one shot before the bull killed him,” said the statement.

Elephants on musth require segregation and isolation until they recover.

Often they discharge a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts on the sides of the head.

The elephant’s aggression may be partially caused by a reaction to the temporin, which naturally trickles down into the animal’s mouth.

Another contributing factor may be the swelling of the temporal glands as this presses on the elephant’s eyes and causes acute pain comparable to severe root toothache.

Elephants sometimes try to counteract this pain by digging their tusks into the ground.

Meanwhile, fellow hunters have posted condolence messages on hunting community websites following the tragic death of Gibson.

Wrote Steve: “Good guy; the best, actually. Godspeed, my friend. Godspeed.”

Safaris said: “Ian Gibson was a fine man and one of the most experienced professional hunters on the African continent. He will be deeply missed by all.”

Chifuti Safaris also reportedly lost a professional hunter in 2012 when Owain Lewis was killed by a buffalo.