Faye Cuevas worked in U.S. military intelligence for 17 years and has hunted terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, as part of a conservation program, she’s turning her skills to fighting poachers in Kenya and saving protected species in the region.

By Philip Bethge

How do you kill an elephant without a gun, if all you’ve got is a spear, and your 20 centimeters (8 inches) of sharpened metal is going up against five tons of thick-skinned beast?