April 16th, 2024

CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh Reports from Sri Lanka in “Elephant Vs. Man” for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper

EPISODE PREMIERES SUNDAY, APRIL 21 AT 8PM ET/PT

PROMO: https://youtu.be/kGImg_4CG6I

NEW YORK, NY – (April 15, 2024) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a CNN Original, returns with an inside look at the fatal conflict playing out between elephants and mankind in Sri Lanka. “Elephant Vs. Man” with CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh premieres Sunday, April 21 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN.

In Sri Lanka, it’s an all-out war between man and the Asian elephant. As the human population surges and their territories expand, the habitats for elephants are rapidly shrinking, leading to daily confrontations between the people who are trying to protect their homes, and the elephants who are losing theirs. Paton Walsh embeds with locals on overnight patrols who risk their lives to protect their crops from being trampled and villages from being charged by elephants during the night.

“This is not just a story about us taking away the spaces and greenery elephants have existed upon for centuries: be in no doubt, we are forcing them into tinier spaces so we can have more and more for ourselves, all the time, in the name of growth. It is a story about every fight for space happening on the planet now,” said Paton Walsh. “Wars, migration, land disputes – they are all a symptom of our species’ ravenous need to expand. In Sri Lanka, it is visually writ large. Elephants and people do not naturally interact, but here they scrap over a pumpkin. This conflict, which kills hundreds on both sides every year, is just a very vivid way of seeing the impact of our greed on the natural world that sustains us.”

There are about 6,000 elephants in Sri Lanka and in 2023 humans killed 476 of them; elephants killed 169 people. As both elephants and people continue to die at an alarming rate, this violent struggle may be an ominous sign of what’s in store for other wildlife across the globe impacted by climate change and human expansion.

The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is executive produced by Susan Chun.

The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, April 21. “Elephant Vs. Man” will also be available on demand beginning Monday, April 22 to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max.

The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Audio showcast. Visit CNN.com/audio or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

###

About CNN Originals

The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of Talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN’s global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films’ first Academy Award® for Navalny, making CNN the only news organization with this distinction. Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11, directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico; the Emmy® Award-nominated “Decades Series”: The Sixties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, The 2000s, and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars, directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything, directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart; This is Life with Lisa Ling; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television, executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper; and Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.

 

Press Contacts

The Whole Story Press Contacts

Jordan.Overstreet@cnn.com

Sophie.Tran@cnn.com

Nick Paton Walsh Press Contact

Lauren.Cone@cnn.com