Gonçalves tracks the elephants’ movements, but she also spends a lot of time in the field observing them. She takes photographs to create a visual profile of each animal. Some have distinguishing marks—a wrinkled ear or missing tusk. Some have also been marked by war—a bullet hole through an ear or a missing tail. 

She records their behavior and interactions. She pays attention to how they are grouped and how they spend their time.

Given the nature of the Gorgongosa elephants, not every field experience is peaceful, though. One day, Gonçalves was traveling with a student who had an interest in elephants. The team had not seen an elephant in three days. She and her student went out looking for them.

The elephant bolted forward, striking the front of the vehicle on the metal grate with all her strength. She stepped back and charged again, shearing off the grate. Much to their panic, the elephant then started pushing against the vehicle with her head. As it happened, a massive termite mound lay on the other side. The vehicle slammed against it and came to a stop.

Shoving her way forward, the elephant tried to reach the passenger’s side where Gonçalves’ student sat. For Gonçalves, everything was happening in slow motion. The elephant hit the window on the student’s side, shattering the glass and sending it in all directions. Her student ducked.

When the elephant hit the car again, they began yelling and banging on the doors with their fists, desperately trying to make enough noise to send the elephant away. The elephant charged a third time, trying to flip the car over.

At this moment, the matriarch, who had been peacefully grazing, started to move. Gonçalves said she could not hear anything above the sound of her own yelling, but the matriarch may have made a low rumble.

That rumble would have stopped the attack. Whatever signal was given, the attacking elephant stopped immediately and ran back to join the others.

The vehicle was badly damaged and now leaking fluids. Starting it and driving away was not an option. They were stranded. With her heart beating wildly, Gonçalves radioed for help. When help arrived in another vehicle, she and her student jumped aboard and sped off with their rescuers. Gonçalves did not know what caused the attack, but the encounter left her badly shaken.

There is still a lot to learn about the elephants in Gorongosa. Gonçalves has many questions she’d like to answer. Despite the trauma of the war, Gonçalves knows that Gorongosa is a magical place and that she has more to learn from these elephants.

She remembers one of her first elephant encounters with a group of young bulls. One bull approached the door of her vehicle. He came so close to her, she could see her own reflection in his large, amber eye. She caught her breath and held perfectly still. He studied her, as if trying to decide what should be done about her. “It may have lasted 15 seconds,” Gonçalves said, “but for me, it was an eternity.”

After staring at her those long moments, the bull moved gently away from the vehicle. He obviously did not perceive her as a threat. The encounter was over. He and the other bulls went back to grazing, as if nothing happened. But Gonçalves felt that her life changed forever in that moment.