The Ethiopian Elephant Era

There was a moment on the ivory trail — brief, brilliant, and almost forgotten — when the great bulls of Ethiopia’s rain forests gave us a final glimpse into the golden age of East Africa’s elephant hunting. This post remembers Ethiopia’s big bulls — not as trophies, but as archetypes — giants that defined the country as a time zone for outsized ivory.

Kenya was moving toward closure. Tanzania was tightening. The old ivory grounds were fading. But in Ethiopia, the forests still breathed. Hunters came because they heard whispers: “The big ones are still there.”

We are speaking of 80- to 120-pounders. These were not the wide‑spreading savanna tusks of Tsavo or Amboseli. They were deep‑forest spears, grown long, thick, and straight from browsing in dense cover.

In Kaffa and Illubabor, bulls moved like shadows through coffee plantations, their tusks long and pale as moonlight. In Bale and Arsi, elephants drifted between highland valleys and bamboo thickets, untouched by the pressures that had reshaped the rest of East Africa.

And picking up their tracks were two PHs who never authored books, never sought fame, and never stood in the spotlight — but who knew the forest and its kings better than anyone alive.

Thomas Mattanovich was born in Yugoslavia. He knew the country at its roots and cared for it. He was a quiet forester who could track an elephant through rain‑washed mud as if the animal had left a trail of fire. His skills were diverse and proved adaptive for all species.

Overall, he led 19 Weatherby Award winners to their achievements – in the forests, the Omo, the Dankil, and the Arrusi for Mountain Nyala.

Colonel Negussie Eshete was an Ethiopian authority whose discipline and knowledge opened doors no foreigner could walk through alone. His military and security experience intersected with wildlife administration, which was common among others with similar backgrounds.

A story of him dropping an elephant before the client shot came with the side note, “somebody would have been killed if he hadn’t.”

Though they worked in different regions and with unique styles, they represent the last generation of PHs guiding untouched elephant country. They were legends of the field, not headliners.

Most elephant safaris occurred between 1980 and 1996 This was before the digital age; Kodak Moments still ruled. On the rare occasion, a picture of a trophy bull would appear in a DSC or SCI magazine. A hunter might share the story of his Ethiopian safari at a monthly meeting using a 35mm carousel projector. And that was the extent of image capture and sharing. No smartphones, no social media. No hunting videos. There are no trophy photos circulating like we’re overwhelmed with today.

THE BULLS and KEY MOVEMENT ZONES

Those who knew, knew. Elephant migration corridors in Ethiopia historically ran through forested zones like Kaffa, Illubabor, and Bale — and intersected directly with expanding coffee plantations, especially in the 1960s and 70s. These corridors were disrupted by agricultural expansion, but during the Mattanovich–Negussie era, they were still active and huntable.

Western Forest Belt (Zone I): Elephants moved seasonally between Gambella, Illubabor, and Kaffa, following water and forage. These routes passed through:

·       Coffee shade forests (semi‑wild, low‑impact farms)

·       Riverine corridors (Baro, Gilo, and Didessa rivers)

·       Old elephant trails used for generations

Highland Corridors (Zone II): In Bale and Arsi, elephants moved between:

·       Montane bamboo thickets

·       Highland coffee zones (especially in Sidamo and Arsi)

·       Seasonal farmland edges, where bulls raided crops

·       Coffee Plantation Intersections

·       Traditional coffee farms in Ethiopia were often forest-integrated, meaning:

Elephants could move through them without total habitat loss. Bulls were known to raid coffee berries and shade crops. Farmers tolerated elephant presence until large-scale agriculture arrived.

Conflict zones emerged later when:

·       Commercial coffee and sugar plantations expanded

·       Elephant corridors were blocked or fragmented

·       Human–elephant conflict increased, especially post-1974

The coffee plantations factored into hunting strategies in a big way. The bulls came not in herds, but in silence — bulls moving through coffee forests older than memory. The growers would report an addictive big tusker raiding the plantation, and hunters scoured a plantation’s seam and followed the tracks in whichever direction they led. Almost always the tracks led inside the dark, canopied forest.

Behind them came the hunters — not the showmen — but the men who knew the forest. It was intense. Mattanovich was said to be able to read a broken twig like a map. Negussie was known for guiding with discipline and reverence. Together, they traced the last great elephant highways of East Africa — not on paper, but in the mud of the forest floor.

Ethiopia’s elephants were never numerous and never well understood outside of this duo and a few others working during its modern elephant safari window. Yet in the deep forests of Tepi and Sheko, along the plantation edges of Bebeka, and in the riverine grasslands of Gambella, a handful of bulls emerged whose ivory, presence, and stories became the quiet legends of a lost era.

THE TEPI TITANS

The Tepi region produced the heaviest ivory Ethiopia ever saw. These were bulls shaped by dense forest, mineral‑rich soils, and the ancient migration corridors that once connected the Baro–Akobo watershed to the southern highlands.

The Tepi 100‑Pounder

The most famous of Ethiopia’s modern bulls — a massive, thick‑based tusker whose ivory pushed the 100‑pound threshold. His photograph circulated quietly among DSC members in the late 1980s: a hunter in khaki, the tusks crossed before him, the forest pressing close behind. He was the last Ethiopian bull whose ivory could stand beside the giants of Kenya’s golden age.

The Red Clay Bull

Taken near the Tepi–Sheko boundary, this bull carried the unmistakable stain of the region’s iron‑rich soil. His tusks were not the longest, but their density and basal girth made him one of the great forest bulls of the era. His image appeared in a small‑run outfitter brochure — one of the few Ethiopian elephant photos ever used commercially.

The Tepi River Bull

Longer, more symmetrical, and more elegant than the forest heavies, this bull represented the transitional type — a blend of forest mass and savanna sweep. His photograph, widely admired among PHs, never reached the internet age. But his ivory became a benchmark for what Ethiopia could still produce in the 1990s.

THE SHEKO FOREST BULLS

Marked by dark timber, steep ridges, and the densest ivory in the country, Sheko’s elephants lived in a world of shadow and steep terrain. Their ivory tended to be shorter, heavier, and more deeply rooted — the classic forest phenotype.

The Tree‑Prop Bull

One of the most iconic Ethiopian elephant images: tusks propped against a tree, the hunter and PH standing in the filtered green light of the Sheko canopy. Estimated at over 90 pounds, this bull embodied the raw, compact power of the deep‑forest type. His photo appeared in an SCI chapter newsletter, then vanished into private collections.

The Sheko–Mizan Transitional Bull

A bull taken along the corridor between Sheko and Mizan Teferi, where forest gives way to rolling farmland. His ivory was thick and deeply curved, weighing in the high 70s. He represents the last generation of bulls that still moved freely between Ethiopia’s forest blocks before fragmentation sealed their fate.

THE BEBEKA PLANTATION BULLS

Where coffee meets elephant, and the ivory grows long, Bebeka’s elephants lived on the edges — plantation margins, open corridors, and the mosaic of forest and cultivation. Their ivory tended toward length and symmetry rather than sheer mass.

The Plantation Bull

Photographed on red clay soil with the coffee rows behind him, this bull carried sweeping ivory in the mid‑80‑pound class. His image was used in a 1990s outfitter brochure and became, for many, the defining visual of Ethiopian elephant hunting.

The Twin‑Sweep Bull

A perfectly matched pair of tusks — identical curvature, identical taper — taken along the Bebeka–Kaffa corridor. Though lighter than the Tepi giants, his symmetry made him one of the most admired bulls of the era among PHs.

THE GAMBELLA RIVERINE BULLS

Gambella’s elephants were different — riverine, mobile, and shaped by the floodplains of the Baro and Akobo. Their ivory was long, elegant, and lighter than the forest bulls to the east.

The Gambella Long‑Ivory Bull

A DSC member photographed this bull in the early 1990s: tusks laid on grass, the hunter standing behind them. At 60–65 pounds, he was not massive, but his length and sweep made him one of the most visually striking bulls taken in Ethiopia’s final decade.

The Baro River Bull

One of the last legal elephants taken in Ethiopia before the hunt closed. His ivory was slender and graceful — the classic riverine phenotype. His story marks the end of an era.

The Kaffa Highland Bull

A rarity from the high country, Elephants in the Kaffa highlands were few, scattered, and genetically distinct. Their ivory tended to be shorter and denser — a mountain adaptation.

The Highland Bull

A 65–70‑pounder with thick, compact ivory. His photograph circulated only among PHs. He stands as a reminder that Ethiopia’s elephant story was never just forest and river — it was also altitude, isolation, and resilience.

THEN the FORESTS FELL SILENT

The bulls were gone. The men scattered. The stories remained only in memory and personal photobooks sitting on the coffee tables of hunters who seized the opportunity before it vanished.

But in small part, this post restores these PHs and elephants — not as heroes and trophies — but as archetypes. These were men and bulls considered giants among their respective kind.

TROPHY ELEPHANT HUNTING TODAY

It’s not over over. It's very different. For trophy bulls it’s a question of either opting for a hit-or-miss area that can produce a big tusker on occasion or a surer thing. To be sure, big tuskers are not everywhere. But there are strong, laser-defined pockets of territory where the average ivory can be handsomely exceeded.

Look to Botswana and Tanzania to produce today. Contact Pantheon Hunters® to find out more.