NORTH
AMERICA
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
SOUTH
AMERICA
AUSTRALIA
Itwillbeagain.Butformanyyears,GorongosaNationalParkwasawar zone.
TheAfricancountryofMozambiquewasatwarwithitself.Thewarwasahumanwar.Yet,manyanimalssuffered,especiallyelephants.Thepopulationof2,500 elephantsfellto 200.
ForDominiqueGonçalves,Gorongosaishome.SheisaNationalGeographicExplorerandthemanageroftheElephantEcology Project.
ANTARCTICA
Mozambique
GorongosaNational Park
Elephantsareknownfortheirsocialbonds,intelligence,and memory.
Shestudiestheelephantshere.Anelephantherdislikeafamily.It’sledbytheoldestandlargestfemale.Sheleadsherdaughtersandtheiroffspring.Sheisthe matriarch.
MatriarchValdahasabulletholeinherrightear.That’saninjuryshegotfromthe war.
Maleelephants,orbulls,formsmallpods.Theyliveandtraveltogether.Gonçalvescantelltheseelephantsfearhumansbythewaythey act.
DominiqueGonçalvesobserveselephantsinthe field.
Whentheyseepeople,theyfightorrunaway.Someanimal behavioriststhinkthattheseelephantsareangry.Theythinktheelephantsrememberbadthingsfromthewar.That’swhytheydon’ttrust people.
