Explorer Levison Wood has always longed to get up close to elephants in the wild.
But a “close shave” with a huge male while filming his new Channel 4 series Walking with Elephants took things to the extreme, even for this action man.
“That bull gave us a blunt reminder of how dangerous elephants can be if we overstep the mark,” Levison says.
“We had a couple of close shaves but I love being in the wilderness. It’s great to be that close to nature.”
Luckily for Levison, the bull let him pass through the bush unscathed, allowing him to continue his epic 650-mile journey – on foot – documenting the world’s largest annual migration of elephants across Botswana.
As a former major in the Parachute Regiment, Levison is no stranger to danger and adventure.
He has fought the Taliban in Afghanistan, crossed the Himalayas, explored South America’s lawless Darien Gap and travelled through some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones.
Now the 38-year-old is trekking in the footsteps of the elephants, from the ancient salt pans of the Kalahari Desert to the nutrient-rich Okavango Delta.
And from adorable calves and their protective matriarchs to aggressive male bulls, Levison encountered them all.
Elephants have been doing this journey for millennia, but it’s a feat no human has ever done on foot – until now.
Speaking from his home in London, Levison says: “Walking through national parks and those wilderness areas where you’re constantly surrounded by dangerous animals is a challenge.
“A lot of planning goes into it. It took months to get all the permissions. It was worth the effort.”
But it wasn’t just elephants that posed a risk – Levison found himself in a “terrifying” position when he came between some lions and their dinner.
It also took a camera crew, an armed ranger and lots of local knowledge to help Levison pass through Botswana unharmed – and the three-part documentary all had to be filmed within a month.
“A lot of wildlife shows like the BBC Earth ones are filmed over years, so it was a tight turnaround,” Levison says.
“We’d be up before sunrise to film. That’s a great time to see wildlife so we’d walk and see what we could find.
“Sometimes it was crossing hippo ponds or following tracks and trails of different animals and when it came to 4pm, we’d set up camp wherever we were.
“It was great to have that freedom. The salt pan in the Kalahari Desert was one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever camped.”
When the team finally reached the Okavango Delta – a World Heritage Site of sprawling grassy plains providing rich nutrients for the elephants – Levison was in awe.
“When we were in the delta surrounded by all those elephants in the swamp, it was just magical,” he says.
“I was transported to another time when nature ruled the roost. There aren’t many places like that left, sadly.”
While the team witnessed the splendour of nature, they also saw the destruction humanity has inflicted on the land.
Levison says: “The biggest threat facing elephants in Africa, along with poaching, is habitat loss because of human overpopulation and agricultural land encroaching on to wilderness areas.
"We saw dead elephants that had their tusks removed.
“Poaching is still a key driver in contributing to the destruction of elephants.
"It’s not the only one but the demand from China and the Far East needs to be stopped. You’ve got to stop it at the source.”
Levison also says locals should not be blamed for killing elephants because it “comes down to poverty”.
“These young men are offered 1,000 dollars to kill an elephant,” he says.
“They’re not educated, they just want to feed their family.
“If you’ve got someone offering 1,000 dollars, they’ll then take those tusks to China and sell them for a quarter of a million.”
Botswana is home to at least 130,000 elephants – almost a third of Africa’s total.
While that number has grown since the 1990s, there is often conflict with humans as people expand farmland and the animals eat their crops.
At villages along the way, Levison meets people who describe the elephants as their enemies.
He says: “We can all live in harmony as long as people respect the wildlife’s need for space – and they do need space. You can’t just go constantly building new agricultural areas or farmland. We have to stop that.
“It’s very easy for us in the West to say that. We killed a lot of our wildlife a long time ago but if we’re serious about protecting species you’ve got to draw a line in the sand.
“A lot of that comes down to education and making sure local communities are on board with these ideas. It’s important we do save these species otherwise we will destroy the planet.”
It’s a sobering message but Levison believes we can turn things around. “Through this experience I learnt the real importance of encouraging the need for wilderness areas and keeping people and wildlife separate,” he says.
“They’re very intelligent animals. I’ve seen that in bucketloads.
“It’s a race against time to ensure these magnificent animals don’t join the thousands of others that become extinct at the hands of humans but, as complicated as this story is I do feel there is a glimmer of hope that we can co-exist.”
Walking with Elephants airs tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm. Levison’s book, The Last Giants: The Rise and Fall of the African Elephant, is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is out now.
