EXCLUSIVE Tale of tomato-stealing 'super tusker' elephant called Tolstoy who gets speared in the leg by a farmer told in heart-wrenching new Netflix documentary - we speak to the creator 'Tolstoy the Tomato Thief' explores the conflict between elephants and farmers American director Kire Godal tells MailOnline her film is an 'amazing story' And it's one that includes 'elephant behaviour never seen or recorded before' READ MORE: 'Incredible' - inside Kenya's astonishing Segera Retreat safari lodge By TED THORNHILL, MAILONLINE TRAVEL EDITOR Published: 03:00 EST, 8 November 2024 | Updated: 03:00 EST, 8 November 2024 e-mail View comments Elephants, it turns out, absolutely love tomatoes. They just can’t get enough of them. Unfortunately, this means they can sometimes come into violent conflict with tomato farmers, who are understandably very keen indeed not to have their livelihoods eaten.
Hungry elephants can make short work of an entire field of tomatoes – they’re capable of demolishing one in a matter of hours. And so an acute dilemma arises – how to protect one of the most adored, important animals on the planet from angry farmers..
. and vice versa. This emotional predicament is explored in a new Netflix documentary – ‘ Tolstoy the Tomato Thief ’ - which tells the true story of notorious elephant tomato thief Tolstoy, a ‘super tusker’ who ends up being speared in the leg by an angry tomato farmer and seemingly realising that he needs help from the very speci.