The Elephant Whisperer: Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom From a Remarkable Herd of Elephants

Product Information

I don't read memoirs that revolves around someone life around animals that much and efter reading this book, I feel like that need to change. Fascinating memoir of the adventurous life of wildlife conservationist Lawrence Anthony, head of Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, Kwa-Zulu Natal province, South Africa. Anthony freely admits that he had to learn their language and also that it is a great shame that these elephants even had to be rescued from humanity by humanity.

Elephants cannot repair a computer, but they do have communication, physical and metaphysical, that would make Bill Gates’s mouth drop open. I have always had a fascination and fondness of elephants and it was mainly the reason I started reading it. Over the years throughout the birth of new babies and the death of friends Anthony learned to love and care for this family of pachyderms - at the same time that they learned to trust him and adapt Thula Thula as their sacred homeland.It is a source of great happiness that there are such people working tirelessly to create an environment of inclusion in a world that increasingly seems focused on self-aggrandizement.

I found Lawrence Anthony a charismatic, strong storyteller, who appreciates the humor in situations, so this is an entertaining, enjoyable story. The message comes through loud and clear, that to truly protect any life form is to protect all by living in respectful coexistence with all life forms in the natural world model of life fueled by life. The drive from the airport takes you past Cape Flats, a remnant of apartheid that displays small, boxed dwellings that stretch as far as the eye can see, housing the poorest of the poor.What follows is a fascinating tale of how he not only saved the herd, but also developed an unusual bond with them. A curl of the trunk, a step backward, or a fold of the ear are other means to communicate with the herd; and the holding of the trunk periscope-style, to sniff the wind, is a way of detecting approaching danger. Lawrence Anthony (17 September 1950 – 2 March 2012) was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and bestselling author.

In preparation for receiving the elephants, an electrified fence is erected including inspection by forest authorities. Yet, in this book I was also amazed by the cognitive processes of the wildlife, especially the elephants. I read that the author of this book recently passed away and that the elephants he interacted with for many years instinctively traveled a very long way on foot over many, many miles to come and visit him at the place where he passed away. I ran the gamut of emotions as I read this book: I laughed, I cried, I was amazed, sometimes shocked, and ultimately, I fell in love with the elephants and their human rescuer.They key to both Anthony's success is raising this herd and in writing this book is that he does not anthropomorphize these animals that he loves. Nana becomes the troubled herd’s defacto matriarch after the herd’s real matriarch is shot and killed just prior to the herd’s transfer to Thula Thula, Anthony’s game reserve, in 1999.

These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Such is Africa, the flawed, beautiful, magnificent, beguiling, mystical, unique, life-changing continent. But, most of all, we had come to this land, “beautiful beyond the singing of it” (Alan Paton), to go on safari.There were moments in the book that were so poignant or so beautiful that I refused to put my book down. As soon as they arrived at Thula Thula they started planning their escape making life for Lawrence even harder and more difficult for him to create a bond with the elephants and save them from execution. Lots of love to Nana, the wise old matriarch elephant, and to her fiercely protective sister Frankie. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from.