Her aunt, Paula McKinley (MARLEE MATLIN, Winner of a ‘Best Actress’ Academy Award for her part in ‘Children Of A Lesser God’, plus TV-hit, ‘The West Wing’), a beautiful and respected elephant conservationist, is fighting to come to terms with her sister’s death and buries herself in her work. She virtually ignores her niece who only serves as a painful reminder of her own loss.
Their mutual love of elephants however, gradually brings Paula and Emma together, and helps them to deal with their grief. Emma quickly finds her favourite, a cheeky young elephant named ‘Ollie’ and through him she comes to cherish her new environment.
However, Paula’s husband, Joss McKinley (C. THOMAS HOWELL, Gettysburg, Soul Man, E.T.) the game warden has a secret he’s hiding from both of them. Spiralling elephant numbers have resulted in overcrowding on the farm and Joss’ sinister boss, Patrick Khumalo (MENZI NGUBANE), forces him into agreeing to a cull.
Torn between emotion and reason, the family becomes as threatened as the elephants themselves. Paula learns of the proposed cull, tearing her and Joss apart. She retreats once more into her grief, now brewing with a desperate anger.
Set against the wild and beautiful scenery, Joss must battle an evil hunter, Ripshaw (IAN ROBERTS), and his mysterious tracker, Ndlovu (KEN GAMPU) . . . two dangerous ivory poachers who kidnap ‘Ollie’ to sell overseas. Meanwhile, Patrick sets up the cull to wipe out hundreds of elephants, which will secretly make him and Ripshaw rich through illegal ivory trading.
Their desperate attempt to save the elephants brings the family together in a finale as breathtaking and unforgiving as the African landscape itself . .