For decades there were rumors of ghost elephants in Angola. This man found them | CNN

EDITOR’S NOTE: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action. The Nkangala people of southeast Angola have an origin story: One day, a small elephant walked away from the herd and headed for the Quembo River. At the water’s edge, it began to remove its skin. A watching hunter helped the elephant, and from the creature, a woman emerged. The two formed a union, and from them, the Nkangala were born. They see themselves as the children of elephants, and today they consider themselves the sacred animal’s keeper. But for decades, the Nkangala have been protecting ghosts. A 27-year civil war beginning in 1975 made exploration of Angola’s remote highlands — already a near-impenetrable, largely uninhabited landscape the size of England — impossible. It also made it the perfect place for the world’s largest land animal to hide. South African explorer Steve Boyes dreamed of this herd for a long time. Starting around a decade a