Is there anything like a "toenail cancer" in elephants? Four years ago, a forty-five years old bull named Pinocchio was discovered to have unusual long and still growing toenails on both front legs. This proved to be a problem for Pinocchio especially when he was walking, as he kept stopping after a few metres and raising his foot from the ground. After consulting Mr. Ndeere from the KWS, he opted to shorten the toenail by cutting them using a hacksaw.

This seemed to have settled Pinocchio's walking problems for a while, but a couple of years later we noticed the same toenails growing again. On consulting Mr. Ndeere again, he informed us nothing could be done and it could be what he termed as "toenail cancer". He really was suffering when walking.

A couple weeks ago one of our game scouts patrolling around Kimana to the east of Amboseli, reported what he thought to be a piece of wood stuck on an elephants toes. A week later the same elephant was reported dead and we identified him as Pinocchio. The carcass had no visible physical injuries, however, it was missing one tusk that was later recovered by KWS.