NORTH
AMERICA
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
Anditwillbeagain.Butfrom1977to1992,GorongosaNationalParkwasawar zone.
In1975,theAfricancountyofMozambiquewonitsindependencefromPortugal.Twoyearslater,itwasengagedinacivilwar.Bothpeopleandanimalssuffered.Largeanimalswerenoticeablymissing.Thepopulationof2,500elephantswasreducedtofewerthan 200.
ForDominiqueGonçalves,Gorongosaishome.SheisaNationalGeographicExplorerandthemanageroftheElephantEcology Project.
SOUTH
AMERICA
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA
Mozambique
GorongosaNational Park
Elephantsareknownfortheirsocialbonds,intelligence,and memory.
Animalbehavioristsbelievethattheseelephantsareaggressive.Gonçalvesthinksofthemasprotective.Theyhaveseentheirfamiliesslaughtered.They’vebeenhuntedfortheirmeatandtheirtusks.Manyelephantsfromthattimearealivetoday.Andtheyhavelongmemories.Theydon’ttrust humans.
MatriarchValdastandstall.Butyoucanclearlyseethebulletholeinherrightear—aninjuryshegotinthe war.
AllintheFamily
Anelephantherdislikeafamily.Theoldestandlargestfemaleisincharge.Sheleadsherdaughtersandtheiroffspring.Sheisthe matriarch.
Maleelephants,orbulls,formsmallpodsinwhichtheyliveand travel.
DominiqueGonçalvesobserveselephantsinthe field.
InGorongosa,elephantsdisplaytheirfearofpeoplebytheirbehavior.Theystayawayfromopenareasindaylight.Whentheyseepeople,theyfightorflee.Theytrumpetloudlytoscarepeople away.
Gonçalveshasseenthisbehavior.Sheknowswhatitmeans.“Thesocialbondsbetweenelephantsarereallycomplex,”shesays.Protectingtheherdisthematriarch’sjob.Gonçalveslearnedthisfirsthandinthe field
