Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) survey the damage in the city, which appears to have been caused by an elephant even though none was seen. Ed Meecham, an animal handler at the zoo, recounts how he came to the elephant's locked cage to find it empty. His boss, Willa Ambrose, tells the agents that the zoo is in danger of closing due to other animal disappearances. She blames the zoo's decline on an animal rights group which is known to free captive animals. The group's leader, Kyle Lang, denies any involvement in the elephant's release. Lang tells them that Ambrose is being sued by the Malawi government over a lowland gorilla she took from their country ten years prior.