You won’t find any bears, Not in the Congo anyway. but there are tracks through the forests in the Congo, Paths, well trodden though the trees. What forest dweller could be making these paths?.. Elephants. Yes that right. Forest dwelling elephants.
Elephants in the Congo
The Forest Elephants of the Congo are smaller than their African cousins, it is believed that they have evolved that way. I guess you’d want to be smaller if you had to walk through dense forest all day!
The African Forest Elephant population approached critical levels in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is because of poaching. As a result the African Forest Elephant is listed as vulnerable under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
This is the first drawing I did, I wanted to have a simple kind if Art deco shape for the Elephant, and then to design the forest within it.
After I finished the drawing I put it to one side as i wasn’t sure it was right! I was hoping it was right because it had taken so long to draw, but after a few days of catching glimpses of it out the corner of my eye i knew i had to abandon it and start again. Back to the drawing board!
Image © Daniel Mackie
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