Among the Elephants - Hardcover

Douglas-Hamilton, Iain; Douglas-Hamilton, Oria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670122084 ISBN 13: 9780670122080

Publisher: Viking, 1975

Synopsis

With a courageous heart and an adventurous spirit, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a young Scottish zoologist, began this study of the elephants of East Africa. The future of these elephants hangs in the balances; the expanding encroachments of man upon their chances for survival. Man and elephant each need more land than the other is willing to give, and a compromise must be reached before the elephants destroy the parklands that support them and are themselves destroyed by mass starvation. The alternatives are few and decisions difficult - either the elephant population must be kept stable through a planned slaughter by those most concerned with their survival, or the native Africans must be evicted from their homes and farms to allow the hearts to expand. Mr. Douglas-Hamilton wanted to find the most acceptable solution. In 1966, under the aegis of the Royal Society, he moved from England and home to the area of Lake Manyara in Tanzania. His task was to observe the elephants in their natural habitat and to record these observations, most notably their birth and death rates, their eating habits, their social interaction, and their migratory patterns. In spite of the hardship of living and working in the middle of the jungle in close proximity to such dangerous animals, his mission was successful and provided valuable information for ethologists and zoologists the world over. For the reader of this book, however, the story of his discoveries is as compelling as the drama of accumulating evidence and of making new observations. One cannot help but be moved and excited. One struggles along with him in attempting to anesthetize huge belligerent elephants in order to attach radio transistors, in warding off rhinoceros attacks and bouts of disease and food poisoning, in raising a family in a house full of mongoose and surrounded by elephants raising their own young. The lively and readable text is richly illustrated with photographs in both color and black & white.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1975
• ISBN 10: 0670122084
• ISBN 13: 9780670122080
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 285