Tracking elephants as new railway cuts through Kenya

Jumbo watch: Vets fitting a radio collar on a sedated elephant. Ten elephants ranging near the high-speed railway currently being built across Tsavo Park, will be fitted with tracking collars so that conservationists can map their migratory tendencies across the new tracks. Photos: AFP

Dangling from a helicopter with a rifle in his hands, a Kenyan vet fires drugged darts at elephants to sedate them so they can be fitted with satellite collars.

Ten minutes after the elephant is darted, the lumbering creature stumbles, and falls asleep. Ground teams are scrambled, rushing to the scene with just a 20 minute window to conduct tests and fit the collar before it regains consciousness.