Over 30,000 African elephants die each year at the hands of poachers, and despite global outcry over the killings, trafficking continues at a more accelerated rate than ever. It was widely reported in 2016 that elephants were being killed at a rate faster than they were being born.

African Parks and National Geographics sought to highlight the African elephants’ race toward extinction at the hands of ivory-seeking poachers with a deeply immersive virtual reality film.

The VR film chronicles a day in the life of a ranger in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Garamba National Park, managed by the conservation non-profit African Parks. The eight-minute piece interviews a group of Garamba National Park rangers as they discuss the trials of their profession, whack their way through 10-foot grasses and cruise by jeep and boat in service of these noble creatures.