@jasperdoest

Deep within the evergreen forest of Gabon’s Lopé National Park, a forest elephant looks at me through the foliage. I'm close—closer than I ever expected to be. Last year National Geographic editor-at-large Kurt Mutchler asked me if I could travel to Gabon to cover an urgent story for a special issue of the magazine about the state of the world’s forests. Months later, my assistent Brice and I find ourselves eye to eye with this beautiful animal. I can feel my heart pounding in my throat, a mix of healthy nerves and excitement as I'm being accepted by this large herbivore inside the forest it calls home. The Central African country of Gabon is home to the most forest elephants, about 95,000, two-thirds of the entire population. While poaching for ivory and habitat loss have reduced their overall numbers by 86 percent in the past 31 years, the forest and its megafauna are both well protected in Gabon. However, recent research outcomes indicate that climate change has put them at risk. I invite everyone to read the story, which is currently published in the May issue of National Geographic Magazine. I want to give a warm thank you to @kurtmutchler for his guidance and support during this challenging time, @yudhijitbhattacharjee for his written voice, my assistant on the story @briceroxan for all his hard work, knowledge and friendship, all the incredible ecologists I worked with @stirlingunifc and @parcsgabon. I’m honored to have made a contribution for this special issue. A special thank you goes to @susanbgoldberg @whitneycatherinejohnson, @kfmoran and @sadiequarrier for trusting me to cover the story. And last but certainly not least National Geographic’s Photo Engineer @mechanicalphoto, for all his efforts in the custom made elephant proof camera traps (more about that later).