Elephant Don

Download or read book Elephant Don written by Caitlin O'Connell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elephant male are often portrayed as aggressive loners, who shape the world around them by brute force. But they can also be gentle and playful giants, even empathic. "Uncertain Throne "brings Entourage from LA to Mushara, showing how the lives of male elephants is really one of time with a posse, entourages of mixed ages, with all of the social dynamics groups of men in other species experience. The story follows that of Greg, and a band of his friends, with days at the water hole, evenings spent defending turf, and searching out mates. "Uncertain Throne "is Greg's story, but it is every bit as much a story about O'Connell, who, like Jane Goodall and others who inspire her, has dedicated herself to learning about elephants, and in turn sharing what she has learned with those of us who aren't enamored of sleeping on elevated wooden platforms in Namibia that keep lions out of reach but are scalable by a wide array of other visitors--snakes included. "An Uncertain Throne "tracks Greg and his group of males for a decade, starting in 2004. In a series of short chapters, starting in the present but winding back through previous field seasons, O Connell narrates and aims to understand the vicissitudes of male friendship, power struggles, and play. She captures for readers the incredible repertoire of elephant behavior, communication included. Greg it at times a tyrant, and at others a benevolent dictator. And he possesses what it takes to stay at the top, even as the environment and landscape morph around him with the dynamics of wet and dry years. Life for male elephants is uncertain, and full of tragedy and triumph alike. And this gives us all a sense of what it's like to walk in their company."

Download or read book Don't Think of an Elephant! written by George Lakoff and published by Scribe Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don't Think of An Elephant is the antidote to decades of conservative strategising and the right's stranglehold on political dialogue. More specifically, it is the definitive handbook for understanding and communicating effectively about key social and political issues. George Lakoff explains in detail exactly how the right has managed to co-opt traditional values in order to popularise its political agenda. He also provides examples of how the centre-left can address the community's core values and re-frame political debate to establish a civil discourse that reinforces progressive positions. Don't Think of An Elephant provides a compelling linguistic analysis of political campaigning. But, more importantly, it demonstrates that real political values and ideas must provide the foundation for political progress by the centre-left.

Download or read book Elephant Don written by Caitlin O'Connell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Greg. He’s a stocky guy with an outsized swagger. He’s been the intimidating yet sociable don of his posse of friends—including Abe, Keith, Mike, Kevin, Torn Trunk, and Willie. But one arid summer the tide begins to shift and the third-ranking Kevin starts to get ambitious, seeking a higher position within this social club. But this is no ordinary tale of gangland betrayal—Greg and his entourage are bull elephants in Etosha National Park, Namibia, where, for the last twenty-three years, Caitlin O’Connell has been a keen observer of their complicated friendships. In Elephant Don, O’Connell, one of the leading experts on elephant communication and social behavior, offers a rare inside look at the social world of African male elephants. Elephant Don tracks Greg and his group of bulls as O’Connell tries to understand the vicissitudes of male friendship, power struggles, and play. A frequently heart-wrenching portrayal of commitment, loyalty, and affection between individuals yearning for companionship, it vividly captures an incredible repertoire of elephant behavior and communication. Greg, O’Connell shows, is sometimes a tyrant and other times a benevolent dictator as he attempts to hold onto his position at the top. Though Elephant Don is Greg’s story, it is also the story of O’Connell and the challenges and triumphs of field research in environs more hospitable to lions and snakes than scientists. Readers will be drawn into dramatic tales of an elephant society at once exotic and surprisingly familiar, as O’Connell’s decades of close research reveal extraordinary discoveries about a male society not wholly unlike our own. Surely we’ve all known a Greg or two, and through this book we may come to know them in a whole new light.

Download or read book The Last Elephants written by Colin Bell and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2019-03-01 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Africa-wide Great Elephant Census of 2016 produced shocking findings: a decimated elephant population whose numbers were continuing to plummet. Elephants are killed, on average, every 15–20 minutes – a situation that will see the final demise of these intelligent, extraordinary animals in less than three decades. They are a species in crisis. This magnificent book offers chapters written by the most prominent people in the realm of conservation and wildlife, among them researchers, conservationists, film makers, criminologists, TV personalities and journalists. Photographs have been selected from among Africa’s best wildlife photographers, and the Foreword is provided by Prince William. It is hoped this book will create awareness of the devastating loss of elephant lives in Africa and stem the tide of poaching and hunting; that it will inspire the delegates to CITES to make informed decisions to ensure that all loopholes in the ivory trade are closed; and that countries receiving and using ivory (both legal and poached) – primarily China, Vietnam, Laos and Japan – ban and strenuously police its trade and use within their borders, actively pursuing and arresting syndicate leaders driving the cruel poaching tsunami. This book is also a tribute to the many people who work for the welfare of elephants, particularly those who risk their lives for wildlife each day, often for little or no pay – in particular the field rangers and the anti-poaching teams; and to the many communities around Africa that have elected to work with elephants and not against them. The Last Elephants – is the title prophetic? We hope not, but the signs are worrying.

Download or read book The Elephant in the Brain written by Kevin Simler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather, but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus we don't like to talk or even think about the extent of our selfishness. This is the elephant in the brain. Such an introspective taboo makes it hard for us to think clearly about our nature and the explanations for our behavior. The aim of this book, then, is to confront our hidden motives directly - to track down the darker, unexamined corners of our psyches and blast them with floodlights. Then, once everything is clearly visible, we can work to better understand ourselves: Why do we laugh? Why are artists sexy? Why do we brag about travel? Why do we prefer to speak rather than listen? Our unconscious motives drive more than just our private behavior; they also infect our venerated social institutions such as Art, School, Charity, Medicine, Politics, and Religion. In fact, these institutions are in many ways designed to accommodate our hidden motives, to serve covert agendas alongside their official ones. The existence of big hidden motives can upend the usual political debates, leading one to question the legitimacy of these social institutions, and of standard policies designed to favor or discourage them. You won't see yourself - or the world - the same after confronting the elephant in the brain.

Download or read book "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" written by Patricia Thomas and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1990-04-23 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All the animals are in a panic. The elephant's sneeze would blow the monkeys out of the trees, the feathers off the birds, the stripes off the zebra. Even the fish and the fly, the crocodile and the kangaroo, know what a catastrophe that sneeze would be. "Please don't sneeze!" they beg. . . . The classic story of an enormous sneeze in the marking, told in sprightly nonsense verse, has been newly illustrated in full color to delight a new generation of fans.

Download or read book The ALL NEW Don't Think of an Elephant! written by George Lakoff and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2014 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: