Mali's famous desert elephants live in the Gourma region, south of Timbuktu. Every year they walk a huge circular route of about 600 kilometres — one of the longest elephant migrations on the planet — searching for water and plants. Their route has been followed by elephant herds for hundreds of years, passed on from mother to calf the way humans pass on stories.
An elephant's trunk is an incredible tool. It has over 40,000 muscles (your whole body has only about 600) and can pick up something as small as a single peanut or as heavy as a tree trunk. Elephants use their trunks to drink, smell, greet each other with gentle touches, spray themselves with dust to stay cool and even make music-like rumbles.
Elephants live in close family groups led by the oldest female, called the matriarch. She remembers where water was found years ago, which paths are safe and where good food grows — and she leads the family using that memory. When young elephants are born, the whole herd celebrates, gathering round and rumbling softly.