“At a time of unprecedented mass extinctions, no animal epitomizes the global biodiversity free fall more than the Asian elephant. Paul Kvinta travels to Laos to visit a moon-shot project aimed at saving the country’s 400 remaining wild behemoths, investigate the strange underworld of wildlife trafficking—and make a very unexpected purchase.” Outside: I Bought an Elephant to Find Out How to Save Them. (And I thought it was bad having to pick up after my beagles.)