The African Fisherman Magazine Volume 24 # 4 | Page 10

G Send us your a l l e r y brag and unusual photos The Elephants Knew... This remarkable story has been told and re-told and still circulates today on the Internet. It is the story of Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of three books including the bestseller, The Elephant Whisperer. He bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003. On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died. He is remembered and missed by his wife, two sons, two grandsons, and numerous elephants. Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived to say goodbye to their beloved ‘man-friend’. A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House. Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence’s passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way: Walking slowly, for days, making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his home. Lawrence’s wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over three years! But yet they knew where they were going. The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who’d saved their lives - so much respect that they stayed for two days two nights without eating anything. Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back home. For a more detailed story and other media on Lawrence, visit http://delightmakers.com/news/wild-elephants-gather-inexplicablymourn-death-of-elephant-whisperer/ Dear Ant Attached is a photo of a tigerfish my friend caught on my boat two weeks ago at Kariba. It’s one of the biggest I’ve seen. I took two friends (Bruce Watson & Scotty Crockart) fishing for the weekend to Kariba two weeks prior to KITFT as this year I was not fishing in the Tournament. My objective was for Bruce to catch a life-long wish list ambition of a tigerfish over 10kg!!! On the way down I had told him that this might be a good time to try as the lake would be very quiet as KITFT competitors were not allowed to practice. Anyway we were very lucky to hook into this fish at 7.30am trawling a spinner 30ft down. The fish jumped nine times - amazing as these big fish don’t normally jump more than once! She was a young fish in pristine condition with not a single blemish... obviously from a good gene pool, so I wanted her back in the water quickly. I quickly weighed her on the Boga grip scale - with Bruce asking “Is she over 10kg?” She was well over 10 kilograms and I told Bruce she’s 10.5kg... and quickly put her back into the lake. She swam off really well after a little smack to the tail. We then celebrated Bruce’s catch and a ticked another box on the “bucket list”. Cheers Roger MacDonald P a g e 10 Email [email protected], [email protected] V o l . 24 # 4