In the footsteps of giants

He’s fought the Taliban. Walked the length of the Nile. Now Levison Wood joins a herd of migrating elephants on a truly epic trek...

Levison Wood is an unassailably heroic and inspirational figure. The British Army officer and explorer has fought the Taliban and walked the entire course of the Nile. Now he is braving an epic trek never before taken by a human being: walking just a few dozen yards behind a herd of elephants as they make their annual migration across Botswana from the Kalahari Desert to the rich land of the Okavango Delta.

A 650-mile journey that the species has made for many millennia, it is fraught with peril for Wood and his crew every step of the way, with nature at its deadliest lurking around each corner, from prides of lions roaming in search of prey and wildebeest charging at the elephants themselves.

They may be herbivores but, weighing several tons, they can still inflict fatal damage when running at full tilt – 25mph – in response to a threat to their young. Despite their size, they are in danger, and it is to highlight their plight that Wood is undertaking his odyssey in a captivating three-part series.

Once, Africa teemed with millions of elephants. Now their numbers are only a few hundred thousand across the continent, thanks to the heavy toll taken by the poachers, and the impact of man on their natural habitat. Botswana’s national conservation programme has managed to keep the elephant population at 130,000, making them a prime sightseeing attraction for wealthy tourists at a luxury lodge that Wood briefly visits along the way.

But he also encounters cash-strapped farmers who will kill to keep their land safe from a beast that can destroy their year’s crop in minutes. Alongside Wood to help keep him alive is his guide, Kane Motswana (above, with Wood), who was born in the bush and is a member of the San people: their way of life as hunter-gatherers goes back tens of thousands of years and may be older than that of any other culture on Earth.

He and Wood reveal a magnificent ritual of the natural world that has survived into the 21st Century. As we revel in the breathtaking footage of the caravan of elephants ambling through a prehistoric landscape, we can only hope it’s a sight that the work of Wood and other campaigners will help to preserve for the future.