A small family of African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) is accompanied by white herons in the beautiful Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda. The elephant known as Mutware (center) is their king. At 40 years old and weighing 6.2 tons, Mutware is the oldest of the hundreds of elephants living in the park. He is pictured here as he once was, before he lost his ivory tusks during the genocide. Because of Rwanda’s efforts at conservation, Akagera is once again home to Africa’s “big five” animals: elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, lion, leopard, and buffalo.
