The thought ‘WHAT AM I DOING?’ crossed my mind as I stood in silence, with one of Africa’s giants towering over me.

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Besides lions, elephants are one of the main reasons tourists flock to Africa each year, and I was certainly no different. To be in the presence of these magnificent animals is magical. As big and powerful as they are, they can also instil a great sense of calmness in you.
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Another Favourite Book

Before I ventured into Africa in search of wildlife there was one book that inspired me to want to spend time with elephants, as well as find out more about them for myself. That book was The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony. Lawrence Anthony is a conservationist who owns a game reserve in South Africa. He was given a herd of rouge elephants to look after which is definitely easier said than done.

His trials and tribulations raising this heard of elephants tells a fascinating story and can inspire anyone to want to experience it for themselves.

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Poaching

Whilst wild elephants continue to roam across much of Africa, they still remain at risk from poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. According to TUSK, an anti-poaching charity (of whom the Duke of Cambridge Prince William is a Patron) up to 30,000 elephants are killed every year for their tusks.

30,000 elephants killed every year for their tusks is unsustainable - they will become extinct if we don’t do something about it.

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Into the wild

In the wild, Elephants can form huge herds that roam the land in a constant search for food. Their appetite is enormous and during the dry season they can push over trees effortlessly just to reach the green tips at the top that are usually unreachable. Their immense power combined with their huge appetite is what makes elephants such a problem in rural areas where local farmers grow crops.

A further problem is that we can't always predict elephant behaviour and migration patterns: Being approached in the dark by a 7 ton bull elephant can be quite scary!

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Solutions?

ALERT - the African Lion & Environmental Research Trust is developing a study to understand these immigration patterns specifically between the Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe and the Mosi-ao-Tunya National Park in Zambia. There is a slight issue - separating these two great wilderness areas is the mighty Zambezi River. The river itself is teeming with crocs and hippos, not to mention the white water rapids that end up cascading into the Victoria Falls - more on this majestic waterfall in a future blog.
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