‘Our world is full of these wild ghosts’: Werner Herzog’s new National Geographic documentary gives a rare glimpse of some of the world's most elusive animals | Tech Radar

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‘Our world is full of these wild ghosts’: Werner Herzog’s new National Geographic documentary gives a rare glimpse of some of the world's most elusive animals

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Ghost Elephants is a new National Geographic documentary premiering on March 7. (Image credit: Disney)

When Dr Steve Boyes first saw himself in Werner Herzog's new film Ghost Elephants at the Venice International Film Festival in August last year, he saw an intensity within himself that he didn't always realize was there.

The conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer has devoted the past decade of his life to finding a mysterious, elusive herd of elephants in the highlands of Angola with such dedication that it immediately caught the attention of Herzog, who has since chronicled the epic journey in a National Geographic documentary.

"Watching it I thought, 'wow — I look completely deranged'," Boyes told Tech Radar. For the record, Boyes is anything but deranged. He was more so referring to Herzog’s filmmaking style, which often focuses on chasing what the director calls "static truth" through protagonists with obsessive, almost mythic passions.

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Boyes fits the bill perfectly. He's dedicated his life to pursuing these animals long believed to be a myth, and runs one of the largest land based scientific, exploration programs with National Geographic in the world.

"We've discovered more than 300 new species and mapped major wetlands and water systems across Africa. But despite that I still spend most of my time on expeditions sitting around fires eating rice and beans sleeping under the stars. I'm supposed to be chairman of several organizations but I always joke that I'm still working on the factory floor," Boyes said.

Despite not having seen may of Herzog's acclaimed documentaries (the two biggest are Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo), Boyes immediately hit it off with the filmmaker after a meeting in "the strangest place imaginable".

That place was a restaurant in Beverly Hills, where the two didn't just talk about Boyes' search for the elephants but the meaning of life, philosophy and even their personal experiences of loneliness.

"Eventually [Herzog] came to Namibia as a creative adviser. I'd invited him out at the last minute after we received a small grant from National Geographic. Within the first two days it became clear to everyone that he needed to tell this story himself. And then this unstoppable creative force just took over."

One of the few Herzog documentaries that Boyes remembers most is Grizzly Man, which funnily enough follows a very similar story to his own about a conservationist that lived with wild grizzly bears on an Alaskan reserve.

It's these stories stories centered around obsession that tend to gravitate towards Herzog in a peculiar way, Boyes reveals. "Werner has a funny way of describing how stories come to him. He says it's like hearing a noise downstairs in your kitchen and realizing that someone has broken in and when you go down there you find four burglars and one big one runs straight at you and that's the story you have to deal with. That's the film you make."

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This intangible link also extends to Ghost Elephants, which showcases how cutting-edge tools like motion heat-sensing cameras failed where the wisdom of Indigenous master trackers succeeded.

"Technology is really about measurement. Cameras and acoustic sensors are measuring things. Even a photograph is just a measurement of a moment. But it's incredibly limiting. We tried everything. Camera traps, acoustic sensors listening for elephants, drones, satellite imagery. None of it worked.

"When the master trackers joined us, everything changed. Someone like [a master tracker] interacts with an elephant footprint the way we interact with a human face. He sees a track once and then again the next day and instantly recognizes it as the same individual. Very quickly he starts naming the elephants and building stories about them," Boyes said.

The documentary isn't just about finding an elusive animal, it's about spotlighting what Boyes believes is the most endangered human resource on the planet right now: traditional ecological knowledge. "Our world is full of these wild ghosts," Boyes revealed.

Ghost Elephants will premiere on National Geographic on March 7, and be available to stream the following day on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (internationally).

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Amelia became the Senior Editor for Home Entertainment at Tech Radar in the UK in April 2023. With a background of more than eight years in tech and finance publishing, she's now leading our coverage to bring you a fresh perspective on everything to do with TV and audio. When she's not tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos in the ever-evolving world of home entertainment, you’ll find her watching movies, taking pictures and travelling.

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Key Takeaways

• ‘Our world is full of these wild ghosts’: Werner Herzog’s new National Geographic documentary gives a rare glimpse of some of the world's most elusive animals

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Ghost Elephants is a new National Geographic documentary premiering on March 7

• When Dr Steve Boyes first saw himself in Werner Herzog's new film Ghost Elephants at the Venice International Film Festival in August last year, he saw an intensity within himself that he didn't always realize was there

• The conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer has devoted the past decade of his life to finding a mysterious, elusive herd of elephants in the highlands of Angola with such dedication that it immediately caught the attention of Herzog, who has since chronicled the epic journey in a National Geographic documentary