Toby Strong observes from his window that panorama of upset climates that mess up the daily life of the Big Apple. The last remnants of snow melt on the skyscrapers. But for a man like him, who has experienced things that few humans will have the opportunity to experience, the vagaries of the weather are not a setback.
His work as a photographer has allowed him to see the cloudy peaks of the Himalayas, the remote glaciers of Antarctica, and the ancient trees in the depths of the Amazon. As a National Geographic photographer, he is also fortunate to have lived with elephants from around the world, and of having portrayed them in their complicated relationships, their secret loves, and their inaccessible logic.
Toby Strong. ESPECIAL
Toby Strong was also a fundamental part of Elephant Secrets, the documentary that delves into the universe of these animals as has rarely been done in the past, and which will premiere on April 22 on Disney+. Secrets of the Elephants came to light thanks to the wisdom of Paula Kahumbu, the lens of Toby Strong, and is produced by James Cameron and narrated by Nataly Porman.
This is the story of Toby Strong, a photographer for National Geographic, lover of nature, and an undisputed scholar in the mysteries of elephants.
Toby, at what point in your life did you decide to dedicate your work and your life to nature?
Courtesy/ Disney+
I grew up in the countryside. Nature was always around me. When I was introduced to photography, I understood that it allowed me to travel, and reach more people. Initially it was a great adventure for me to go to Antarctica, to the Himalayas, to go to the Amazon. It was a very big thing for someone so young. But I began to see what was happening to our planet, what was happening in the Amazon, in Antarctica, in the glaciers.
And I understood that instead of being an adventure, it was more important to teach people how important wildlife is, and what was happening to it. I don’t know the exact moment. I remember being in Antarctica, and seeing these huge icebergs about to break apart, causing sea levels to rise all over the world. Wait, I told myself. It’s really important to show this to the world instead of just being an adventure.
What have you learned about elephants on your travels?
I have filmed elephants for 25 years. They are my favorite animals. Every day I learn something new. I spent much of the past year in the desert of Namibia, along with a species of elephants that have the most difficult lives of any elephant on the planet. What I learned is that every day they fight to survive, and yet they are gentle and kind to each other, and also take care of their surroundings.
Only a few trees remain in the Namibian desert. The elephants do not knock them down, but take care of them; they are kind in one of the most difficult ecosystems in the world. That is what I learned this year. I have always respected and loved elephants, but that was a real moment in which I understood that they are very special animals.
I once read that elephants are animals that mourn their dead. What other social interactions that we would consider exclusive to humans have you seen in them?
COURTESY / Disney+
It’s a great question. Real scientists get into it by saying “this is very human”, but they need to stop worrying about it. ANDo I have been able to spend time with the elephants and have seen complete joy. When the rains first come and play, there are smiles on their faces. I have seen pain. I have worked with many orphaned elephants in West Africa, whose parents were massacred. I have seen baby elephants in trauma for over a year. They receive unconditional love from orphan caregivers, but it slowly takes nearly a year for them to return.
I have seen tears. I have seen sadness, absolute sadness. I have seen courage. When humans usually get in the way, scare off a baby, or endanger the matriarch of a family, I have seen courage. It is as if they were saying: “no, you will not do that”. I have seen human emotions in elephants, but generally I have not seen jealousy, nor have I seen envy. To be honest, they probably have more emotions than us. Deeper, wonderful and gentle emotions. I hope that in time we realize this and learn more about elephants.
What would you consider to be your most meaningful experience with elephants? Wait a minute you said, “this will change my life”.
That is something that I dispute. I spent many years with orphaned elephants in West Africa. There was an elephant named Emily. She was like a matriarch to the other babies, because they followed her. She was a friend, because every morning she came with me as if to say “hello”. She has already returned to the wild and had a child, which I think is wonderful. Suddenly they stopped seeing her, she disappeared for months. One day I went back to Africa to film something, and as I was leaving the shelter, she showed up. Literally the moment I stepped outside, she appeared in the bushes. She came closer, leaned her head towards mine, and we stayed like that for five minutes. I cried.
This is not something that will appear in scientific books or magazines. I have seen orphaned elephants returned to the wild bring back wild elephants. Once, one of those wild elephants had a very large wound on its leg. One of the former orphans brought him to the shelter, where the caretakers were, to be cured. That as if he were saying, “these people are good”. I have seen things that science cannot explain. The magic for me is that there is still so much we don’t know. We have much to learn from them.
Toby, my last question is, what do you think we as humans should learn from animals?
Toby Strong.
That’s the biggest question, isn’t it? Perhaps start not destroying our planet, not destroying our environment, living in harmony with it and with all animals. We have that ability, any animal can teach us how to live in harmony. We have to. We don’t have much left, probably less than ten years. What you ask is the most important question we have today on the planet. What should we learn from the species we are ignoring? It’s starting to live in harmony.
We have to learn to live in harmony with the elephants, you know? They are huge, flexible and protective animals. They can be ambassadors of any other species. We need to create spaces where we can live with them. They were here before us. If we can live in harmony with elephants, we can live in harmony with any other species and create spaces for them. We are smart, and we have to start soon. We have to start learning from animals.
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