Elephant Trails

Download or read book Elephant Trails written by Nigel Rothfels and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why have elephants—and our preconceptions about them—been central to so much of human thought? From prehistoric cave drawings in Europe and ancient rock art in Africa and India to burning pyres of confiscated tusks, our thoughts about elephants tell a story of human history. In Elephant Trails, Nigel Rothfels argues that, over millennia, we have made elephants into both monsters and miracles as ways to understand them but also as ways to understand ourselves. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including municipal documents, zoo records, museum collections, and encounters with people who have lived with elephants, Rothfels seeks out the origins of our contemporary ideas about an animal that has been central to so much of human thought. He explains how notions that have been associated with elephants for centuries—that they are exceptionally wise, deeply emotional, and have a special understanding of death; that they never forget, are beloved of the gods, and suffer unusually in captivity; and even that they are afraid of mice—all tell part of the story of these amazing beings. Exploring the history of a skull in a museum, a photograph of an elephant walking through the American South in the early twentieth century, the debate about the quality of life of a famous elephant in a zoo, and the accounts of elephant hunters, Rothfels demonstrates that elephants are not what we think they are—and they never have been. Elephant Trails is a compelling portrait of what the author terms "our elephant."

Download or read book The Amboseli Elephants written by Cynthia J. Moss and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-07-18 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elephants have fascinated humans for millennia. Aristotle wrote of them with awe; Hannibal used them in warfare; and John Donne called the elephant “Nature’s greatest masterpiece. . . . The only harmless great thing.” Their ivory has been sought after and treasured in most cultures, and they have delighted zoo and circus audiences worldwide for centuries. But it wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century that people started to take an interest in elephants in the wild, and some of the most important studies of these intelligent giants have been conducted at Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The Amboseli Elephants is the long-awaited summation of what’s been learned from the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP)—the longest continuously running elephant research project in the world. Cynthia J. Moss and Harvey Croze, the founders of the AERP, and Phyllis C. Lee, who has been closely involved with the project since 1982, compile more than three decades of uninterrupted study of over 2,500 individual elephants, from newborn calves to adult bulls to old matriarchs in their 60s. Chapters explore such topics as elephant ecosystems, genetics, communication, social behavior, and reproduction, as well as exciting new developments from the study of elephant minds and cognition. The book closes with a view to the future, making important arguments for the ethical treatment of elephants and suggestions to aid in their conservation. The most comprehensive account of elephants in their natural environment to date, The Amboseli Elephants will be an invaluable resource for scientists, conservationists, and anyone interested in the lives and loves of these extraordinary creatures.

Download or read book On Trails written by Robert Moor and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-07-04 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In 2009, while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, Robert Moor began to wonder about the paths that lie beneath our feet: How do they form? Why do some improve over time while others fade? What makes us follow or strike off on our own? Over the course of the next seven years, Moor traveled the globe, exploring trails of all kinds, from the miniscule to the massive. He learned the tricks of master trail-builders, hunted down long-lost Cherokee trails, and traced the origins of our road networks and the Internet. In each chapter, Moor interweaves his adventures with findings from science, history, philosophy, and nature writing--combining the nomadic joys of Peter Matthiessen with the eclectic wisdom of Lewis Hyde's The Gift. Throughout, Moor reveals how this single topic--the oft-overlooked trail--sheds new light on a wealth of age-old questions: How does order emerge out of chaos? How did animals first crawl forth from the seas and spread across continents? How has humanity's relationship with nature and technology shaped the world around us? And, ultimately, how does each of us pick a path through life? With a breathtaking arc that spans from the dawn of animal life to the digital era, On Trails is a book that makes us see our world, our history, our species, and our ways of life anew"--Book jacket flap.

Download or read book Elephant meat trade in Central Africa : Democratic Republic of Congo case study written by and published by IUCN. This book was released on with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book African Game Trails written by Theodore Roosevelt and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2001 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After leaving the White House, Theodore Roosevelt embarked in 1909 on a lengthy African safari/collecting expedition for the Smithsonian that covered hundreds of miles, from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to Khartoum and Egypt.

Download or read book African game trails written by Theodore Roosevelt and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book African game trails : an account of the African wanderings of an American hunter-naturalist written by Roosevelt, Theodore and published by Best Books on. This book was released on 1910-01-01 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: