Secrets Of The Savanna: Twenty-three Years in the African Wilderness Unraveling the Mysteries ofElephants and People

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HarperCollins, Jul 17, 2007 - Nature - 256 pages
 "Vividly written...Their story is thrilling—the kind of tale that wild-animal lovers won't easily forget."—People

In this riveting real-life adventure, Mark and Delia Owens tell the dramatic story of their last years in Africa, fighting to save elephants, villagers, and—in the end—themselves. The award-winning zoologists and pioneering conservationists describe their work in the remote and ruggedly beautiful Luangwa Valley, in northeastern Zambia. There they studied the mysteries of the elephant population’s recovery after poaching, discovering remarkable similarities between humans and elephants. A young elephant named Gift provided the clue to help them crack the animals’ secret of survival. A stirring portrait of life in Africa, Secrets of the Savanna is a remarkable record of the Owenses's unique passions.

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Contents

1 Gift
1
2 Poacher cum Miller
9
3 UpsideDown Elephants
18
4 The Song of the Winterthorn
33
5 Grandpa
45
6 Any Time from Now
54
7 Gullywhumper
65
8 No School for Gift
78
16 A Present from Gift
131
17 A Dangerous Dinner
138
18 Wildlife Drama
145
19 When I Close My Eyes I See Elephants
154
20 A Dance with Survivor
158
21 Grass Huts and Leopard Stumps
164
22 Camp Arrest
173
23 Adrift
180

9 The Women of Katibunga
81
10 My Troop
90
11 Mountain Elephants
97
12 The Commerce of Understanding
103
13 The Kakule Club
112
14 Too Much Sugar
122
15 Chipundu Pride
124
24 The Stones of My Stream
184
Epilogue
191
Back Matter
195
Back Flap
231
Back Cover
232
Spine
233
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About the author (2007)

When Mark and Delia Owens first went to Africa in 1974, they bought a thirdhand Land Rover, drove deep into the Kalahari Desert, and lived there for seven years. They are the authors of Cry of the Kalahari, an international bestseller and winner of the John Burroughs Medal, The Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna. After more than 30 years in Africa, they returned to the United States to carry on their conservation work.

DELIA OWENS is the author of the bestselling Where the Crawdads Sing, her first novel, and the coauthor of three internationally bestselling nonfiction books about her life as a wildlife scientist in Africa: Cry of the Kalahari, The Eye of theElephant, and Secrets of the Savanna. She has won the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing and has been published in Nature, African Journal of Ecology, and International Wildlife, among many others. She lives in Idaho, where she continues her support for the people and wildlife of Zambia.

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