Gabon’s conservation efforts for forest elephants is increasingly at odds with residents of areas where the mammal's growing population is creating conflict. Villages like Bakoussou where complaints about the pachyderms' encroachment on farmland, despite electric fences, are growing, with some locals calling for drastic measures. “The solution,” says Kevin Balondoboka, “is to shoot them.” IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES N°36M88NJ