Authorized hunter and unofficial game warden Mark Phillips is guiding Bob Warren and Joe Collins on a hunting safari in the African jungle when Collins shoots an elephant. Mark argues that ivory hunting is not permitted in the district, and in a struggle for the gun, Collins kills Mark. Warren and Collins decide to hide the body and have Warren pose as Mark, using his credentials so they can continue to hunt ivory. In a nearby village, spinster schoolteacher Miss Banks instructs the villagers in English while her young assistant Lola teaches Bomba, a feral but harmless jungle boy, how to read in the jungle on the outskirts of the village. Lola soon tires of the lessons and tries to spark romance between herself and Bomba, while he continues spelling “elephant,” his favorite animal and friend in the jungle, ignoring her advances. Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Andy Barnes, a Scot, finds Warren and Collins and, after reviewing their credentials, takes them to the village in their jeep. Lola spots the truck and decides to get Bomba’s attention by catching a ride with the men. Once in the village, Barnes introduces the newcomers to Banks, then delivers a message that she is being transferred to the coast immediately. Banks knew Mark and tells Barnes in secret that the hunters are lying. Barnes then decides he must return to the station to telegraph the commissioner and on his way out of the village warns his old friend Bomba to keep an eye on the suspicious men. Meanwhile, Lola is showing Collins around the village and, though upset by his brusque and flirtatious behavior, hopes to make Bomba jealous. Warren and Collins return to the jungle in the jeep with Lola and Collins tries to entice her into accompanying them on their journey into Portuguese territory with the promise of new dresses. When they stop to hunt, Bomba finds Lola alone in the jeep and explains his fears about the men and demands that she not follow them, but Lola is only amused by Bomba’s behavior. Bomba calls to the elephants and leads them out of the area and away from the hunters’ range. The hunters then see Bomba, who has just discovered Phillip’s body, and decide they must get rid of him before they can continue. In the village, Banks tells tribal chief Nagala that she must leave, but, Nagala, believing that his people are naive and that education is the only way to help them mature, offers to sell hidden ivory, procured before the law forbidding ivory hunting, to generate a salary for her and buy valuable goods for his people. Later the hunters find Bomba and Lola by the lake and shoot, wounding Lola, but Bomba’s elephants run Warren into the lake and Collins up a tree. Warren and Collins then return to the village to collect their things before leaving. Warren asks Nagala for assistance from his men, but the chief explains to him that all his men are retrieving ivory from a hidden cave. Warren, wanting the ivory for himself, surreptitiously offers to help transport the ivory with his jeep and gets direction to the cave, then leaves abruptly. Collins hears about the ivory and chases after Warren on foot. Soon after, Bomba brings Lola to Banks, who dresses her wounds, and Bomba explains that Phillips is dead. After Nagala admits that he told Warren about the ivory, Bomba leaves for the cave, finds the villagers carrying the tusks, one by one, back to the village and advises them to hide them in the lake. Warren arrives and Bomba swings from a rope into the back of the jeep, holding Warren at spear point, but Warren throws Bomba off balance, taking control with a gun. Meanwhile, Collins has tracked them down and, while he and Warren fight over ivory, Bomba whispers to a monkey to call for the elephants. The hunters unsuccessfully interrogate Bomba about the location of the tusks and return to the village where they hold Banks, Lola, Nagala and Bomba at gunpoint in the school. When Collins, who is now fed up, tries to leave, Warren kills him. Just then the elephants stampede and kill Warren. Andy arrives soon after and, with Nagala, oversees the villagers pull the ivory from the lake. He comments on “the curse of the native tribes of Africa,” and Banks adds that it “will be the means for helping these people to a better way of life.” Lola looks longingly at chimps kissing in the trees, hoping that Bomba will return to say goodbye, but Bomba is watching nearby as his friends leave the jungle.