Get Ebooks Love, Life, And Elephants: An African Love Story
"Astonishing...You may be tempted after the last page to sell all your possessions and join [Sheldrick's] cause."―The Boston GlobeThe first person to successfully raise newborn elephants, Dame Daphne Sheldrick has saved countless African animals from certain death. In this indelible and deeply heartfelt memoir, Daphne tells of her remarkable career as a conservationist and introduces us to a whole host of orphans―including Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope, and the majestic elephant Eleanor. Yet she also shares the incredible human story of her relationship with David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo National Park warden whose death inspired the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the orphans' nursery, where Daphne works to this day. From her tireless campaign to preserve Kenya's wildlife to the astonishing creatures she befriended along the way, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing rare insight into the life of one of the world's most fascinating women.
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (June 25, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250033373
ISBN-13: 978-1250033376
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (342 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #45,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #23 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Environmentalists & Naturalists #31 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Wildlife #69 in Books > Science & Math > Environment > Environmentalism
There must be some reason that we love elephants so. The big, strange beasts are among the most popular exhibits at circuses and zoos, for instance. Their participation in such venues may not have done the elephants much good, and neither has the relentless poaching for their ivory. One person who has harnessed a love of elephants in order to benefit the animals themselves is Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a conservationist who has special expertise in raising orphaned elephants and reintegrating them into the wild. The poachers have made lots of orphans, and Sheldrick has had an enormous amount of work to do within Kenya's Tsavo East National Park to try to bring some sort of balance. Elephants naturally loom large within her biography _Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story_ (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), but so do the humans she has worked with, and sometimes against, as well as rhinos, zebras, dikdiks, civet cats, ostriches, mongooses, and more. It is a delightful book, with plenty of funny and sad stories, and a charming reverence for fellow creatures. Sheldrick has had a unique and useful life, and her looking back on it for us is generous and instructive.Sheldrick was born in Nairobi in 1934, and was brought up with animals, and was fascinated by them. Her family put her in charge of an orphaned baby bushbuck when she was four, and her life changed. She was to go on to care for many other animals, eventually meeting David Sheldrick, Tsavo's principle warden. He had superb knowledge about African wildlife, and he had the looks of a movie star, and she lost her heart to him. The two of them both got divorced from their then-spouses, married, had a daughter of their own, and worked incessantly for Tsavo's wild beauties. Her main enthusiasm was elephants, and she and David were to work jointly saving orphans and thwarting poachers. They also had to battle against corrupt politicians and well-meaning scientists who believed that elephant overpopulation in the park was hurting its overall ecology and that profitable culling of the herds was better than natural solutions. David was to have a premature death from heart attack in 1974; Sheldrick was bereft and shattered, but felt that she had learned from her beloved elephants, who do have their own process of mourning. She was to soldier on by herself, becoming especially adept at bringing up elephant orphans. It is the sort of work that no one had done before, and it was trial and error for many years, with the errors sadly being the little elephants that didn't make it. There was no other way to learn the right way to do it. One of the secrets is coconut milk, which has the right fats for a nursing elephant calf and none of the indigestibility of cow's milk. Raising an elephant child is hard, with every-three-hour feedings using a huge container with an artificial teat, and the calf is dependent on milk for three years. It wasn't just elephants, but other creatures such as rhinoceroses. It is interesting that although the aim was the same for both rhinos and elephants, to get them back into the wild, the strategies had to be completely different. "Whereas elephants were very difficult to rear but easy to rehabilitate, the rhinos were the opposite - easy to rear but extremely difficult to reintegrate back into the wild system." Antelope orphans, by contrast, were a cinch.There are many funny stories here, like the time a worker from the park came upon poachers doing their evil work. He called upon them to stop, whereupon they would have fled, but they became incoherent. Behind him, walking along in companionship, were an elephant, a couple of rhinos, buffaloes, and ostriches tended by the park. The poachers begged on their knees for mercy; they were sure that they were being captured by a witch. And who knew that ostriches enjoyed military formations? They would hear the sergeant-major calling the rangers to a drill inspection, and would hurry along to join the ranks. There is an absurd picture here of men with arms a-shoulder, watched carefully by a platoon of ostriches. There are heartbreaking stories, too, and throughout there is a moving resolve to help out, to get things done for animals betrayed by our silly covetousness for ivory, or the even sillier desire for "medicines" made from rhinoceros horn. It's going to be a tough fight. Modern poachers use machine guns, there is increased demand from China, and global warming is threatening the environment of the park. Anyone reading this heartfelt volume will hope that the work of Dame Daphne and of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust will continue.
I have never been more emotionally tied to a book. Dame Daphne Sheldrick tells her amazing life story, from her recent ancestors move to Kenya, to her current role running the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which, amongst other things, aids orphaned elephants and rhinos in order to preserve these dwindling species. I loved the stories about orphans raised throughout Daphne's lifetime, with funny anecdotes about the most memorable animals. The romantic part of her life story is one that shows how happy life can be when you have really found your soul mate. There is so much insight into life and happiness that comes from reading this book, the ups and downs that are encountered as a human lifetime goes on. My only regret is that there is not more of this book to read. I highly recommend this book, keep a box of tissues nearby to help cope with the happiest and saddest moments!
I love daphneThis book (334 pages and 60 plus photos)is about love and life.David Sheldrick--11/22/1919 to 6/13/1977 a Kenyan farmer who became the Wardenof TSAVO NATIONAL PARK and his lovely wife Daphne 6/4/1934 who founded THE DAVIDSHELDRICK WILD LFE TRUST in David's name when he died of a heart attack in 1977.It is a love story-David & Daphne- and a story about the many orphans that havepassed thru their hands over the years. The joy and the tears. It was the elephantsthemselves who taught Daphne how to cope with adversity-to morn and grieve,but thenfocus on giving to the living. Kenyan wild life has suffered so much at the hands ofhumans. The animals forgive but never forget.Daphne has set up-THE ORPHANS PROJECT,FOSTERING UNIT,DESNARING UNIT,THE VETUNIT,COMMUNITY OUTREACH and THE ART STORE.Her fist loves were BUSHY,RICKY TICKY TAVEY,GREGORY PECK,HUPPETY and ELEANOR themajestic elephant. She and David lived with compassion and humor.DAVID and DAPHNE lead a campaign to end poaching and for conservation.Daphne made the only milk formual that keeps baby elephants alive. She is famousfor that alone. Many good rescue people have given babies regular milk and madethem sick/killed them.+++Daphne dedicates this book to the wilderness and all that it embraces. Daphne sayswhat we are is GODS gift and what we become is our gift to GOD.+++ (Remember this dailyin your life !)One of Daphnes daughters will take her spot upon her death.You can adopt a baby..$50 a year and get updates of your elephants life. I urge youto do this. I adopted a baby elephant named MAKENA born in 2005. She is still aliveand well.THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ..... R E A L L Y !bbp okc ok 63 retired
Dame Sheldrick has had an amazing life, no doubt. However, being a patron of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and an elephant fosterer, I was looking forward to a story about her relationship with elephants and how she hit on the formula that finally enabled her to keep these precious orphans alive. That and pretty much everything else in this autobiography are glossed over and dealt with at a very shallow level. I was left feeling unsatisfied. I wanted more detail. This book is worth reading, especially if, like me, you live in Nairobi, but it just wasn't as deep, elucidating or informative as I was expecting.
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