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a vast natural clearing and a mecca for forest elephants. The forest provides all the food they need. So, what is it that draws them out of the shadows? The clearing contains a vital ingredient that's lacking in their diet. Volcanic rocks lie close to the surface, and the salts they contain neutralize toxins ingested with rainforest leaves and bark. Generations of elephants have come here to prospect for these minerals and settle their stomachs. Blowing down, they churn up the mud, then take a mouthful of the mineral-enriched waters. As soon as they've mastered their trunks, they're hooked.
It may be that these mineral salts are also vital for the elephants' growth and fertility, which is why as many as 3,000 elephants visit Dzanga each year. They'll try any tactic to control the best areas of the bai. Dzanga bai is not the only clearing where they can get these salts, but it's certainly one of the biggest and most frequented. When Andrea Turkalo first she had an instinct that this place could help her unlock the secret lives of forest elephants. I knew immediately that this was an extraordinary place because to see wildlife in the open in the forest is literally impossible.
I went there first in 1987 just to see the place and actually slept there. And all night there were these extraordinary elephant sounds because elephants don't sleep like we do. There was just this symphony of elephants. And in the morning, they were still there and it was obvious that this was probably one of the most special places for them in the Congo Basin. All my employees come from the local Biaka tribe. They have great forest skills. They keep me out of harm's way. Um they see things long before I even am aware of them.
Every day, Andrea sets off with her loyal helpers on the 45-minute walk to the bai. It's a routine she's stuck to for 20 years. Today, like any other day, she has no idea who or what she might see. Oh my god, it's Gugu. Okay, I can't believe she's come back. I haven't seen her in about 6 months, and she's still able to keep up with her group. And she's still walking. It's not uncommon for calves to be born with disabilities.
What's unusual is that Gugu has survived for so long. Unlike on the savanna, there are no large predators here, which might explain why. But life in the forest for a disabled calf is by no means easy. What really amazes me about this individual is if you think about walking in the forest, the mother must come to obstacles like fallen trees. So, she's evidently accommodating the female with the you know, the handicap. Because she's keeping up with the group. Otherwise, she would just get lost in the forest, left. This place never ceases to amaze me. The things you see.
Even though Andrea sees individuals only rarely, she's been able to piece together their life stories. She couldn't have reached this extraordinary position without first learning how to pick out faces from the crowd. By mid-afternoon, the crowd can be 140 strong. To keep track of so many individuals, Andrea drew pictures of their ears, which get ripped and torn in distinctive ways as they move through the jungle. She had over 4,000 identity cards before she realized her phenomenal memory was taking over. I think the big breakthrough was when you realized you knew the elephants. You felt empowered. You could just go out there and look and you knew them.
Like you would see someone on the street in your hometown and recognize them. During the hours she spends at the bai, she notes all the arrivals and crucially who greets whom. It's late afternoon and Andrea has noticed two related elephants who have arrived from different parts of the forest. This is uh Mimi 1, the matriarch of this group. Mimi 1 knows that Mimi 2 is there. Yeah, they're heading right towards each other. Here we go. There's a nice greeting going on right now.
Some very low frequency. Yeah, now they're trunking each other. Yeah. Yeah, that's a mother and daughter. So, some of these greetings are very subtle, and if you know the individuals and you predict them. By understanding these relationships, Andrea has made an important discovery. In the forest beyond the bai, it's rare to see more than one elephant at a time. People assumed they led solitary, independent lives. Andrea believes that even though relatives might not stay together in the forest, they do appear to know each other's whereabouts.
I think it was a general misconception about forest elephants only having small family groups. But, they do have extensive networks, and they should because I mean, we know that about savanna elephants, why shouldn't forest elephants still maintain these social groups? Dzanga Bai, as well as offering medicinal salts, appears to be an important venue for elephant family reunions. Andrea is beginning to understand why the Biaka call this place the village of elephants. But, even the Biaka don't understand how the elephants appear to second-guess each other's movements.
How they know when other family members will be at the bai. To get to the bottom of this, Andrea has had to start thinking like an elephant. Tuning into this forest world as they do. Andrea's no longer here just to study them. She feels a growing duty to protect them. She believes their conversations are rich in meaning and that one way to help is to listen to what they're saying. Today, she's adding to her vocabulary to get a better view of the clearing.
She's working from a viewing platform. We're pretty high. I think we're up about maybe 7 m. And you can see one end of the bai from the other. And you see all the entrances to the bai, so I'm able to keep track of all the individuals that come in. From up here, she can compile a kind of elephant phrasebook which links particular behavior to the calls they make. Well, what I'm doing is I'm trying to capture vocal sequences between elephants in the clearing in order to build up a an elephant lexicon, what these vocalizations mean. Because I know the individuals, I can also anticipate these vocal events. Someone's lost.
It's probably a juvenile lost its family. An elephant's hearing is phenomenal. They can hear much deeper sounds than we can. Technology is helping Andrea to record these very low frequency calls that are normally inaudible to humans. Yeah, the male is checking on this female. And if it's often to that one, if he knows he's being checked out by a male, they do this real low rumble. Andrea can now identify 10 different types of call. She's even discovered that each family has a distinctive voice. Oh, separated from its mother.
Oh, the mother's coming. Here comes the mother. Mother hears the baby crying. And there she is. She's vocalizing. There's a lot of low frequency going on now, reassuring the calf. And probably the calf is learning the family's specific calls. It's now the dry season, one of the busiest, and for Andrea, one of the most fascinating times at the bai. This is Triple Bite. Over the years, Andrea has watched him grow from an adolescent into one of the most dominant bulls in the clearing. But he hasn't been here for nearly a year.
He's traveled hundreds of kilometers to reach Zanga, where he knows he can find females. It's not just the females that sends the tension rippling across the bai when the big males arrive. That's number five chasing Sitatunga. For the younger bulls especially, this can be a very exciting time. The young elephants, they come in there very feisty. And they'll just run around the bai for the entire afternoon. He's like a young male in puberty. So he's learning how to be a male. Unlike on the savanna, elephants rarely see each other in the forest.
This clearing offers rare moments of contact, time for the bulls to get to know each other, and learn each other's strengths. And everything they do is copied by the youngsters. Elephants are so much like humans. We learn to be human and yet end up being socialized and elephants undergo the same process. Andrea calls this bull school. A time and place to learn their position in elephant society. When I started the study, I had no idea about how conscious they were. And yes, they do have good memories and they have personalities.
And watching an elephant grow from childhood to adulthood has been astonishing to see the changes and how much they really have to learn to become an elephant. Andrea has revealed something even more significant about Zangabai. This clearing is the place where elephant culture is passed on. Understanding the central importance of Zanga Bai places an even bigger burden on Andrea's shoulders. Her presence here is not just preventing elephant deaths, but the possible disruption of their entire way of life.
Sadly, local opinions are increasingly affected by bigger changes sweeping across the region. Andrea's seeing more and more elephants entering the Bai. She thinks they're being pushed into Zanga as commercial logging disrupts their extensive network of paths. What's more, ivory is back in demand. And the tusks of forest elephants are most sought after. They are pinker and much denser than those of savanna elephants, resulting in a rose ivory that's highly prized for carving.
Its value is astronomical. A pair of tusks raises $90,000 on the black market. It's no wonder some local people get drawn into poaching. Human conflict in neighboring countries floods the area with weapons. The guards confiscate many of them, but there are plenty more. And they're largely pointing at Zanga. It's the easiest place to find and kill forest elephants. Unless, of course, Andrea is there. I will react immediately to any threat.
Now, I can be out at the clearing having a nice afternoon, and then I hear gunshot, and I'm gone. I'm back to camp on the radio trying to get guards motivated. In many ways, Andrea is the only person standing between the elephants and mass slaughter. After years of wanting to be here, she now dare not leave. Even trips to the local town could endanger the elephants because she's under surveillance, too. Her absence from the bai never seems to go unnoticed. Poachers are very localized. I mean, they live in the village. I know them.
They know me. So, when I'm driving out of town, they see me, and everybody go I mean, people going Andrea by the side of the road. So, they know I'm leaving. And that's a worry because there have been incidences where there is poaching when I've been gone.
