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Life

The word: Musth

8 February 2006

HE IS a hot-blooded, 30-year-old male in peak physical condition. He has mucus oozing from his cheeks and green urine streaming down his legs. His penis has a green sheen to it and he gives off a smell that can be picked up half a mile away. He wafts his ears back and forth and makes a low rumble. He looks confident: after all, many females find him irresistible.

Sounds familiar? Hopefully not. He is a male elephant in musth – something like a state of rut. Sexually mature bull elephants go through musth for a one to two-month period …

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