David Lloyd's Image

The mellow light of dusk emphasised every wrinkle and hair as a herd of elephants approached David. The female leading the herd – possibly the matriarch – looked straight at him, her amber eye shining bright through the heavy folds of skin. Her gaze was full of respect and intelligence, the essence of sentience, he says.

The distinctive large ears of African bush elephants have extensive blood vessels and wrinkles to maximise heat loss. Losing part of the lower earlobe, like this female, is a common injury. Both males and females use their tusks for fighting, digging and feeding. Poaching for tusks for the ivory trade is still one of the biggest threats facing African elephants.