North Taranaki's Elephant Rock loses its trunk

A piece of an iconic North Taranaki rock formation - Elephant Rock - has lost its trunk. On the left, as it used to look. On the right, as it looks now.

A piece of an iconic North Taranaki rock formation - Elephant Rock - has lost its trunk.

Elephant Rock sits near another renowned rock formation - the Three Sisters - at Tongaporutu, south of Mokau, just off State Highway 3.

The rock is about 400m from the view of Tongaporutu resident Mike Brown who looks out at the landmark from his lounge window.

Brown said it had definitely suffered damage to its trunk.

"It's quite a big rock, it's in the shape of an elephant, you've got its back, its hind legs and front legs and you've got its trunk which is right out the front and comes down to the ground and the trunk has fallen off, so it's lost its elephant look.

"A week or two ago it was fine and I would speculate that it may have suffered in that [7.8] earthquake because we felt that quite strongly here.

Elephant Rock as it used to look. It sits near another renowned rock formation - the Three Sisters - at Tongaporutu, south of Mokau, just off State Highway 3. Photo / File

"I'm standing now 400m away and can see it but I haven't been able to get down to the beach because the tide is too full," Brown said earlier. Later this afternoon he went to the rock and confirmed the trunk had gone.

Getting to the rock was part of the experience, Brown said. After parking in the car park, the visitor can only traverse the approximate 300m walk - across slippery rocks and around a river mouth - in low tide.

"It's become very popular. I have seen it on Facebook you get these 'wonders of the world' and I have seen it in magazine articles as well where they've picked up on natural geology and I think this one has become quite well known globally, probably more so than local people even realise."

Elephant Rock as it looks now. Photo / Supplied