Hunting for elusive "ghost elephants"

"I grew up waiting for the magazine to arrive; I wanted the maps. Those would become my garden, or the field beyond, or the river-wild places imagined and real. Boyes' childhood fascination with National Geographic magazine shaped his desire to become an explorer and conservationist, transforming magazine maps into real-world destinations for adventure and discovery."

"We used to embed ourselves in baboon troops and walk with impalas. Under the right circumstances, if they don't feel threatened, elephants will come and swim around you and with you and interact with you. So elephants have always fascinated me. Boyes' early wildlife experiences and direct interactions with elephants in their natural habitat fostered a lifelong fascination with the animals."

Steve Boyes, an ornithologist and conservationist, has spent years searching for a rumored new elephant species in the Angolan Highlands. His quest is documented in Ghost Elephants, directed by Werner Herzog, which debuted at the Venice International Film Festival. Boyes grew up in South Africa inspired by National Geographic magazine, dreaming of becoming an explorer. His parents introduced him to wildlife through trips to Botswana and Tanzania, where he developed a deep fascination with elephants from a young age. As an adult, Boyes conducted PhD research on Meyer's parrots in the Okavango Delta, which hosts the world's largest elephant population, establishing his expertise in both ornithology and wildlife conservation.

Read at Ars Technica