Alvin Kaunda was in the middle of detailing the effects of human actions on the natural world when the tip of a brown trunk popped into view just behind his left ear.
The trunk, belonging to one of the young residents of an elephant orphanage in Nairobi where Kaunda had gone to report a story on the devastating drought affecting Kenya and its wildlife, gently draped over the journalist’s shoulder before twisting upward to investigate his ear, exploring the side of his head. Kaunda, though, appeared unfazed by the unexpected intrusion of his personal space and continued to deliver his on-camera report, only finally bursting into laughter when the elephant’s leathery appendage started snuffling his face.
