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

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He had an immense respect for the indigenous people and the many species of animals that are native to the African continent. Lawrence Anthony (17 September 1950 – 2 March 2012) was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and bestselling author. The experience of living in the bush with these resourceful folks and animals over the period of time it takes to read the book is wonderfully energizing and one hates to leave their company at the end. When you’re feeling down and out and defeated and ready to give up, read this inspiring book and share it widely with others.

Nana had learned many tricks about escaping from electrified enclosures from her earlier mentor and the herd often worked in concert to outwit their captors. Lest one get the wrong idea, reading this story is definitely not wading through didactical musings. Following the prologue, the reader is launched into an African storyworld revealing insights, danger and revelation. I read in the newspaper that when Anthony died, the elephants suddenly appeared at his home on the Reserve and spent two days around the house in mourning.The accounts you can read of the mourning by the elephants after the passing of Lawrence Anthony, show us how animals have feelings often as deep as that of humans, and their attachments to both other animals and their human friends. Please note that in the US this book has been published with the subtitle Learning about Life, Loyalty and Freedom from a Remarkable Herd of Elephants.

That understanding and generosity of spirit is alive and well in the pachyderm kingdom; that elephants are emotional, caring and extremely intelligent; and that they value good relations with humans.

The author was remarkable because he would follow his intuition about situations rather than standard advice, often while fearing his actions could bring about his demise. But this sense was taken to an even more extraordinary and inexplicable level in the case of the author of "The Elephant Whisperer" and owner of the Thula Thula game reserve in South Africa. Very interesting reports on the smarts elephants have although the story leaves things out that I wanted to know about. While the main focus is on the supposedly rogue elephant herd, there is much more to this book: fearless family dogs, deadly crocs and snakes, several rhinos, Zulu traditions, uniting five tribal lands, post-Apartheid ravages, assassins and poachers, flooding rivers, raging fires, etc. Yet, in this book I was also amazed by the cognitive processes of the wildlife, especially the elephants.