Okavango Region, Botswana

This scene is an original illustration set in Okavango Region, Botswana. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is hot semi-arid steppe.

A family of elephants crosses shallow water in file — huge sail-like ears, dipped backs, a calf walking between adults. Papyrus tufts and reeds fringe the near bank. Beyond, low palm islands sit in a maze of channels under dry-season morning light.

Why does the African elephant have such large ears?

Big ears are radiators, laced with blood vessels and fanned to shed heat — a body plan for open sun rather than forest shade. Water spreading into channels and islands rather than running to the sea marks an inland delta, where a river dies in a basin. That is why there is standing water here in the dry season while the surrounding country is parched.

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