Elephants, the twilight of the giants

They are the largest land animals on the planet. They appeared on the Earth 50 million years ago, long before humans emerged as a species, and they spread all over the world, to the very edges of the permafrost regions. They are strong, intelligent and have a powerful ability to adapt.

But, more than anything, their evolutionary success can be traced to their extraordinary family ties.

By following the story of three females, we learn about the biology, lifestyle and customs of elephants. And these three elephants are quite different. The first is the son of a forest elephant, a relatively unknown species, who makes his first trip to a bai and must learn, alongside his family, how to get to the salt which lies hidden underground. The second, an African bush elephant, is a weathered matriarch who must lead her family to water when their territory suffers a severe drought. And the third is an Indian elephant, mother to a young son, whose territory is shrinking due to the effects of human activity.