Book Review – The Elephant Whisperer

True Story of Settling Wild African Elephants by Lawrence Anthony

Oct 22, 2009 Fleur Hupston

Lawrence Anthony's account of gaining the trust of a herd of traumatized elephants due to be shot is a touching testimony of his commitment to these magnificent giants.

In the memoir The Elephant Whisperer, Lawrence Anthony combines his personal history on his game reserve Thula Thula in South Africa with an examination of the often negative impact that humans have on the diminishing wilderness areas of Southern Africa.

About Author Lawrence Anthony

South African by birth, Anthony is an international conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and published author. He is the founder of The Earth Organization, an environmental and conservation group with a strong scientific positioning.

Anthony has a reputation for intrepid, courageous conservation initiatives, including the rescue of animals in the Baghdad zoo at the height of the US lead Coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, for which he received the prestigious Earth Day Award at the United Nations in March 2004.

Anthony has written a book about this wartime rescue of the Baghdad Zoo entitled Babylon's Ark and the movie rights have been acquired by a major Hollywood production company.

Articles relating to his conservation activities have appeared regularly in local and international media and featured in magazines and journals such as Readers Digest, the Smithsonian, the Explorers Journal, Africa Geographic and others.

Delinquent African Elephant Herd

The book starts by recalling events from the time Anthony receives an unusual phone call offering him a herd of troubled elephants that will be destroyed if he does not take them. He only has to pay for transport costs and they are his.

He agrees but soon wonders if he has made a huge mistake. The elephants are traumatized, angry and very dangerous. Their matriarch has been killed, they have been transported for miles to a reserve foreign to them and they make it clear from the outset that they will break through his hastily constructed but sturdy 8000 volt electric fence, which they do.

What follows is a desperate attempt to recapture the elephants before they rampage or are shot by poachers.

When the elephants are enclosed once again, experts tell him to have no contact with the animals. However, Anthony realizes instinctively that he must win the new matriarch's trust if the herd is to stay on the reserve without breaking out – their lives depend upon it. And so begins a mesmerizing account of dismantling the barriers of hatred and fear manifest in these mistreated, unpredictable giants.

The journey is not an easy one, and several times Anthony is either mock charged or charged by one or another of the elephants, with the very real intent to kill him. More than once he has an extremely narrow escape.

Elephant Intelligence

Fascinating questions are raised in The Elephant Whisperer. For example, when the elephants break through the electrical fence, how does Nana, the matriarch, know where the energizer that powers the fence is or what it is for? Yet search for it she does, hidden as it is in a thicket half a mile from the boundary fence and she then tramples it to smithereens.

When Anthony finally gains the trust and respect of the matriarch and the herd, they come to wait for him on the day of his return from various business trips. Putting it down to coincidence at first, it becomes uncanny but obvious that they know exactly when he is away and exactly when he will be back.

The book touches on the scientific research relating to elephant's intelligence and their ability to communicate over long distances, which gives an intriguing slant to the book.

Wildlife and Conservation Efforts in South Africa

The Elephant Whisperer is not only an account of settling a herd of wild elephants but it offers additional information on other facets of African wildlife, intertwined with Anthony's obvious passion for the wild and all its creatures.

The narrative also deals with the daily challenges of running a game lodge, the issue of raising funds necessary for conservation efforts, the continual threat of poachers accessing the reserve as well as the weighty issues of sustainable development and local community involvement in the game reserve.

Conclusion

Anthony writes with warmth, affection and sensitivity in The Elephant Whisperer. The greater part of the narrative deals with the various incidents that arise from the challenge of taking on a herd of delinquent elephants but in addition the reader will likely be able to sense the enormity of the loss should these great herds disappear forever at the hands of poachers or the increasing urban sprawl.

Anthony is a determined conservationist and his balanced, diplomatic approach to tackling problems that arise will hopefully encourage all readers to be aware of and support conservation efforts wherever they may live.

His own words sum it up best: “Perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those we put up ourselves and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves”.

Title: The Elephant Whisperer

Author: Lawrence Anthony

Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 368 pages, £6.99 UK price

ISBN 978-0-283-07087-7 HB

Date of Release in US and Canada: 10 November 2009