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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony, Graham Spence

The elephants steal the show in this book - as the author intended. Lawrence Anthony owns a game reserve called, Thula Thula in South Africa. One day he unexpectedly gets a call asking if he'd accept nine rogue elephants.  He's told that if he doesn't accept in two months, they will be shot and killed. He's dealing with other issues such as poachers on his land who are threatened by the prospect of elephants. They cannot poach with those big creatures and they sabotage Anthony's efforts to build a fence. When his workers get shot at the situation gets dangerous and Anthony is forced to solve the problem. The nonstop action and issues make this story sound like it is from the Wild West, not the 1990s. When Anthony finally gets the elephants they are so angry he risks his life to save them. Not only do the elephants respond to him, they visit his home after his death of a heart attack in 2012. They return every year on the day of his death to pay their respects. These are amazing animals and this story is a fascinating look into not only running a game reserve, but what local Zulu culture was like, and how humans can communicate with intelligent animals. I highly recommend it.

5 Smileys

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