Listed in 1948, the Tsavo National Park in southeast Kenya is the largest protected area in the country and is crossed by the Nairobi-Mombasa road and railway. This acacia tree in Tsavo-East stands as a symbol of life among the immense stretches of prickly savannah and is a focal point for the tracks of wild animals that come to take advantage of its leaves and shade. Tsavo has long been known for its high numbers of elephants, though during the 1970s, many of them fled severe drought. Daily they consume over 200 kg of vegetation and seriously damage the natural environment, causing controversy over whether they should be selectively slaughtered. However, poachers settled the matter by exterminating almost 80 % of the park?s 36 000 elephants! While international trade bans on ivory and rhinoceros horn has allowed certain populations of wild animals to increase their numbers again, the trafficking and disappearance of habitats in which they live are still a threat.

**The artist: Yann Arthus-Bertrand**

Born in 1946 in Paris, Yann Arthus-Bertrand began a career in cinema as an assistant producer and as an actor. However, his passion for the animal world soon lead him first to become the director of a nature reserve in France and then to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, where he worked on his thesis, at the same time training as a hot-air balloon pilot. As a press report photographer, he has worked with magazines such as National Geographic, Géo, Life, Paris Match, and Figaro Magazine. In 1990, he completed his first documentary work combining photography and video in a project called Good Breeding. One year later, the artist and his team founded the photographic agency ?Altitude?. In 1992, Yann Arthus-Bertrand decided to begin a huge photographic project that would cover the state of the world and its inhabitants ? ?The Earth from Above?. Published in 1999, the associated book was an international success, selling over 4 million copies. In 2006, he enters in the Académie des Beaux-arts [French Academy of Fine Arts]. Since then, he has produced a number of projects aimed at increasing awareness of ecological and environmental issues, such as the well-known films Home (2009) and Planet Ocean (2012). His highly anticipated latest film Human is due to be released in September 2015.