Description
At the base of Kilimajaro in southern Kenya rests Amboseli, a small national park of 150 square miles, home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeests, and elephants. Covering 13 years, Moss's chronicle of the elephants of Amboseli comprises chapters that are each divided into three parts. Beginning with a semifictional scene in the lives of a particular elephant family a mixture of site-specific observed activity filled in with observations of other elephants at other times, as well as accumulated knowledge of elephant behavior each chapter continues with a particular theme such as mating, social organization, or population dynamics. The final third of each chapter is a report on developments in the members of a particular family. Moss includes a family tree to keep track of the names of family members, two maps to keep track of movements, and one diagram of social relationships. This 1988 reprint of the original publication contains a new afterword. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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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."One is soon swept away by this 'Babar' for adults. By the end, one even begins to feel an aversion for people. One wants to curse human civilization and cry out, 'Now God stand up for the elephants!'"—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times"Moss speaks to the general reader, with charm as well as scientific authority. . . . [An] elegantly written and ingeniously structured account." —Raymond Sokolov, Wall Street Journal"Moss tells the story in a style so conversational . . . that I felt like a privileged visitor riding beside her in her rickety Land-Rover as she showed me around the park." —Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, New York Times Book Review"A prose-poem celebrating a species from which we could learn some moral as well as zoological lessons." —Chicago Tribune
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