Hoping to Help
Today, there are more than 650 elephants living here. Once, elephants could be found throughout the park. Now, they stay in the southern part. As the herds grow, which areas will they choose to live in? What will happen when they come in contact with people?
Gonçalves wants people and elephants to live peacefully. To help, she keeps track of where the elephants go. That means putting a collar on them.
Collaring an elephant is hard to do. First, you have to find an elephant. A team searches by helicopter. When the right elephant is found, the team goes into action.
Everyone in the herd looks out for one another.
The team collars a matriarch and takes samples.
From the air, they shoot a dart at the elephant. It makes the elephant sleepy. Then the team lands.
The team puts a collar on the elephant’s neck. She wakes up and gets back on her feet. Now, the team can track her.
Gonçalves searches for elephants by helicopter.
a dart