Wildlife Related Books - Non-fiction

[Mel]

Soul of a lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugees

- Barbara Bennett
- ISBN (Hardback) 1426206542



For animal lovers, nature enthusiasts, and the vast readership for gripping true-life stories, this African saga is a must-read adventure. It chronicles the unique Harnas Wildlife Foundation in Namibia, where Marieta van der Merwe and her family, former wealthy cattle farmers, have sold land to buy and care for embattled wildlife. We meet Sam, the "AIDS" lion infected by mistake at a vet clinic. Boerjke, a baboon with epilepsy and Down syndrome. Savanna, the one-eyed lioness. And Marieta van der Merwe herself, the inspiring proprietor of Harnas who shares her home with needy wild animals. Survivor of an early life fraught with personal tragedy in the African Bush, she now devotes herself as care-giver and ambassador for wildlife and wildland. Told with insight, humor, and thrilling immediacy by author and Harnas volunteer Barbara Bennett, this story will captivate readers of all ages.

[Mel]

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

- Peter Derichs
- ISBN (Paperback) 9780620271691



This is a very detailed, easy to use, guide to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Each page has a map that corresponds to the photos and information provided, detailing distances from one point of interest to the next.
It has over 110 full colour photographs that cover all the main water holes and points of interest in the Park. Each photo has a full description
of the meaning of the place name, quality of the water, depth of the borehole, GPS position, any applicable geological formations,
plus identification of trees and shrubs as well as a description of any historical events that happened there. A further 117 full colour photos
give a concise description of the most common animals, trees, flowers and birds found in the Park. There is also a checklist of the most common
mammals and birds as well as an index of the Latin, English, Afrikaans and German names of plants, animals and birds.

This guide makes it possible for the whole family to participate in a journey of discovery that will reveal unknown facets of this very special Park.

[rayb]

Among the Elephants

- Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton
- ISBN 978-0670122080



This is the story of naturalist Ian Douglas-Hamilton's work with elephants in Northern Tanzania. Whilst being very informative, it is also a good read and tells how he meets his wife Oria and their work together. It was their research that showed the social behaviour was almost entirely matriarchal. There are some lovely photographic plates, including one of their toddler Saba in close contact with the local herd. Saba is now a well established wildlife presenter.

I was given this book 30 odd years ago and it is one of the reasons I became fascinated in African wildlife.

[Mel]

Elephant Memories
Thirteen years in the life of an elephant family

- Cynthia Moss
- ISBN (Paperback) 9780226542379



Cynthia Moss has studied the elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park for over twenty-seven years. Her long-term research has revealed much of what we now know about these complex and intelligent animals. Here she chronicles the lives of the members of the T families led by matriarchs Teresia, Slit Ear, Torn Ear, Tania, and Tuskless. With a new afterword catching up on the families and covering current conservation issues, Moss's story will continue to fascinate animal lovers.

From Publishers Weekly
Amboseli National Park, near Mt. Kilimanjaro in southern Kenya, is home ground to some 600 elephants; this herd has been relatively free from human interference and was a major focus for field study. Moss, author of Portraits in the Wild, has been involved with the elephants of Amboseli since 1973; she and her colleagues have made a substantial contribution to our knowledge of elephant biology and behavior. Here, she follows one extended family through 13 years of good times and bad times, observing details of their daily lives. The book is organized by year and topic: each chapter begins with a synthesized narrative that introduces a single phase of lifesuch as mating, migration, social behavior, births and calves (this is the first study of elephant newborns and their development) that relates to family history. This is a captivating story of individual animals', rather than the author's, adventures. Moss affirms the old tale about elephants assisting one of their own who is injured or dying; she also reports that they recognize bare and bleached bones of their species. Any reader interested in animals will be captivated.

[Mel]

Cry of the rhinos

- Johan Fourie
- ISBN 978-0-9870388-4-5



In the year 2010, 333 rhinos were destroyed in South Africa by poachers and another 290 by August 2011. This year the total killings so far are even more than 2011!
This is the heart rending reality of the bush and it is against this and related events that Johan Fourie, in his book “Cry of the Rhino”, speaks out.

Johan Fourie writes with honesty and relentless passion about the shady world of the poacher. His exhaustive knowledge of the bush, nature and the tactics used by poachers merge into a nail biting experience for the reader on a subject which should lie close to the heart of every South African.

[ExFmem]

- Animal Wise
- by Virginia Morell
-ISBN 978-0-307-46144-5
-First Edition 2013



Noted science writer Virginia Morell explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising and moving exploration into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.

Did you know that ants teach, earthworms make decisions, rats love to be tickled, and chimps grieve? Did you know that some dogs have thousand-word vocabularies and that birds practice songs in their sleep? That crows improvise tools, blue jays plan ahead, and moths remember living as caterpillars?

Animal Wise takes us on a dazzling odyssey into the inner world of animals, from ants to elephants to wolves, and from sharp-shooting archerfish to pods of dolphins that rumble like rival street gangs. With 30 years of experience covering the sciences, Morell uses her formidable gifts as a story-teller to transport us to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing us to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. She probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness--traits that many in the twentieth century felt were unique to human beings.

[Mel]

My life with leopards

- Graham Cooke
- ISBN 978-0143530299



On May 31, 1993, two 6-week-old leopard cubs were brought to the Londolozi Game Reserve, a private reserve bordering the Kruger National Park. In charge of the cubs was Graham Cooke, a 22-year-old old game ranger who had been working at the reserve since 1988. The intention was to rehabilitate the cubs back into the wild once they were old enough to fend for themselves. And thus begins a poignant love story. A story that revolves around a unique relationship that transgressed the natural boundaries between a human and a cat that is considered to be one of Africa’s most accomplished killers. Armed with a .22 rifle, Graham’s responsibility was more than daunting. With infinite patience, Graham eventually managed to gain their trust and slowly the cubs’ individual different characters emerged. The little male was relaxed and laid back, whereas his smaller sister revealed a far more stubborn and reserved streak. My Life with Leopards is the incredible and unique story of a heart-rending bond between a person and two super predators. Moving, dramatic, powerful and at times infinitely funny, the story allows the reader a unique insight into an adventure of a lifetime and the breathtaking relationship Graham Cooke shared with the incredible big cats.

[Flutterby]

Chamberlain's LBJs
The definitive guide to Southern Africa's Little Brown Jobs

- Faansie Peacock
- ISBN 978-0620543200



Almost a quarter of Southern Africa's bird species, and half of its endemics, are LBJ's. All birders experience some degree of trepidation when confronted by Ornithologicum nightmariensis, and this potentially confusing group is shunned by most beginners and many experienced birders too. However, LBJs include some of the region's most spectacular, thrilling, interesting, sought-after and memorable birds. This eagerly anticipated new book, four years in the making, will not only help you to confidently identify LBJs, but also understand and enjoy these remarkable birds.

[Dewi]

Handbook of Mammals of the World Volume 3

- Edited by Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands, Don E. Wilson
- Illustrated by Stephen D. Nash
- ISBN-13: 978-84-96553-89-7



Published by Lynx Edicions in association with Conservation International and IUCN

Everybody knows that we are members of the mammalian Order Primates, but ask somebody to name some of our cousins and they would at best come up with five or six of the most widely known. This, the third volume of HMW, counts more than 470 of them: 138 species of prosimians—the lemurs, lorises, pottos and tarsiers in Africa and Asia; 156 species of monkeys in the New World tropics; another 158 monkeys in the Old World tropics; and 25 apes, 19 of them gibbons along with six chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Much of this extraordinary diversity has been discovered only in the past two decades. In the 1980s the count was 180 species. Now we know so much more of their diversity, and this volume of HMW presents them in all their remarkable variety of shapes, sizes, colors, habits and specializations.


Volume 3 of the Hanbook of Mammals of the World thumped through my letterbox today.

An excellent series so far. The first volume on Carnivores is well thumbed through already.

A bit pricey, but well worth it.

http://www.lynxeds.com/hmw/handbook-mam ... d-volume-3

[Mel]

The Last Lions

- Barbara Joubert, Dereck Joubert
- ISBN 978 142 620 7792



A symbol of mythic potency, the African lion has ruled the human imagination for millennia. But in Botswana's Okavango Delta, the world's most awe-inspiring hunters are challenged not only by their waterlogged territory, but also by their formidable prey—the buffalo—who wield their massive horns with deadly accuracy. Pulsing with ancient rhythms of wild Africa, this harsh and eternal struggle is compelling, powerful, and poignant. Award-winning filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Beverly and Dereck Joubert, give us an unforgettable glimpse of this iconic drama in the official companion book to their feature film, The Last Lions, and warn that due to declining numbers of lions in the wild, it may soon end forever.

In fascinating text and breathtaking images, the Jouberts reveal both the beauty and danger of the Okavango Delta and its inhabitants. We follow a lone lioness, Ma di Tau—Mother of Lions—and three newborns as they flee a ferocious rival pride. Braving the Delta, despite their instinctive hatred of water, the lioness and her cubs head for an island lost in a labyrinth of streams. She and two cubs escape successfully; a lurking crocodile snatches the third.

Soon, their refuge is invaded by a vast buffalo herd—aggressive, unafraid, a constant threat, yet the lions' only prey. But even as Ma di Tau hones her tactics and stalking skills, she is trapped between throngs of buffalo and a rival lion pride. So she does what all of her kind must—adapt or die.

The Last Lions is a story of family and hope in a world of wild beauty and relentless predation that is a superbly photographed, sharply detailed intimate portrait of one dauntless mother struggling to protect her young and preserve her bloodline. It is a vivid, universal vision of the fate of lions everywhere, isolated on tiny islands amid a sea of humanity. Can we rescue them, or have we already, heedlessly, met the last lions?

For decades the Jouberts have lived among great cats in the wild, observing, documenting, and often discovering unsuspected facets of lion behavior. A key message is that the inexorably rising tide of human population will soon drown what remains of that world unless we act now. The book draws attention to the numbers (500,000 in the 1950s to only 25,000 lions today) and highlights projects that have been enacted to help preserve wilderness for lion habitat.

This book is basically a revised edition of Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffaloes and contains about 30 pages more that
cover diary type writings and photos.