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

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After a lovely dinner and then drinks by the fireplace, in the twilight Hermann escorted us, rifle a-ready, to our cabins. 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. 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. What is depicted are varying mesmerizing situations the author has experienced that the reader may glean the relevance of. The story can be seen in one vein as the age old struggle between the primal savagery of trigger happy men killing for the thrill of it, and wiser minds trying to protect wildlife, knowing humankind's future is at stake.

Such is Africa, the flawed, beautiful, magnificent, beguiling, mystical, unique, life-changing continent. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed.With unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, The Elephant Whisperer is an enthralling book that will appeal to animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere. 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. 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. It’s natural, uncluttered by materialism or artificial ethics and it helps me to maintain a wholesome perspective of my own existence and that of my friends and family.

It shows how humans and animals can form close bonds and how animals communicate in ways we do not always understand. Lawrence Anthony (17 September 1950-2 March 2012) was a conservationist with the Thula Game Reserve in Zululand, South Africa.

According to Anthony’s son, Dylan, both herds arrived at the Anthony family compound shortly after his death (their last visit was several months back). When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of 'rogue' elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. Without a matriarch or a bull mentor, the young males can easily turn into rogues that rampage through villages or attack every animal in sight. Among them, learning the value elephants place on family, loyalty and compassion and their willingness to go the extra mile.

Simon Vance is one of my favorite narrators and of course he does his usual excellent job narrating the book.

Anthony died of a heart attack at the age of 61 before his planned March 2012 conservation gala dinner in Durban to raise international awareness for the rhino-poaching crisis and to launch his new book, The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World's Greatest Creatures. As the rover rumbled through the bush, we first encountered a pride of lions lying about, obviously full after a recent kill. As the herd slowly adapted all were illuminated by an animal consciousness never before experienced. 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.

The Elephant Whisperer had been on my TBR list for quite awhile, and I was happy when my book club chose to read it. Hermann drove and was accompanied by a local tracker, who could read any footprint or pile of scat on the trail. For me it one of those books that as soon as I had finished reading it I wanted to learn more about it and tell others about it. In preparation for receiving the elephants, an electrified fence is erected including inspection by forest authorities. In the early years of his custodianship of Thula Thula, he took in a herd of troubled elephants who were about to be destroyed.

Humans, on the other hand, tend to focus introspectively on their own lives too often, brooding and magnifying problems that the animal kingdom would not waste a millisecond of energy upon.