An emaciated female

forest elephant may be

evidence that climate

change is harming even

the most untouched

forests. Scientists think

higher temperatures

and less rainfall are to

blame for a dramatic

drop in the amount

of fruit on the trees in

Lopé’s forests. The lack

of fruit appears to be

making it harder for

elephants to get the

nutrition they need.

DUSK WAS FALLING when we drove into the

forested expanse of Lopé National Park in central

Gabon, leaving the town of Lopé—the last outpost

on the way to the reserve—far behind.

In the distance, the hills were changing color

from blue to gray. On either side of the dirt road,

a mosaic of savanna and thick tropical rain-

forest stretched to the horizon. The landscape

looked so primeval that it was possible, in the

moment, to think of human civilization as an

illusion. Then, just as we were about to enter

a dense patch of forest, our driver, Loïc Mak-

aga, who manages the park’s research station,

slammed on the brakes.

“Elephants!” he said in a low, excited voice,

pointing ahead. He turned off the engine.

A few hundred yards in front of us, a proces-

sion of elephants emerged from the forest. In

the moonlight I counted six, including a calf

nudged along, presumably by its mother. They

lumbered across the road at a leisurely pace,

gliding into the foliage on the other side with

an assuredness that suggested they’d been

here many times before. Watching them from

so close, I felt like a stranger who had ventured,

uninvited, into some family’s ancestral home.

D

104 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC