When one of Kenya's oldest and biggest bull elephants was wounded by a spear he knew exactly what to do.

Tim, as he is known, made his way through Amboseli National Park to a camp of conservationists where he knew he would be helped.

David Bates was counting buffalo calves last month when word reached him that the 47-year-old tusker - an elephant with tusks weighing at least 100lb each - was headed his way.

“I was excited to see him,” he told The Nation. “But then, as he drew closer to us, we realised that something was wrong.