Elephant Secret

We Bought a Zoo meets Jurassic Park in a gripping story set in an elephant sanctuary, featuring the perennial appeal of human-animal friendships. Samantha (Sam) lives at the elephant sanctuary her dad runs and views the elephants there as much a part of her family as her single dad is. When a beloved elephant dies in childbirth, Sam develops a special connection with the baby, named Woolly because she has an unusual amount of hair. It soon becomes apparent that Woolly is . . . different. Woolly's mother was part of a special breeding project, and Woolly's DNA is not elephant but that of a rare specimen -- a woolly mammoth -- procured by the eccentric billionaire genius who runs the program. He will stop at nothing to protect Woolly, his multimillion-dollar investment, even it means turning Sam and her dad's world upside-down. An astonishing fact-based look at elephant behaviour and an endearing girl-elephant friendship.

The elephants of the Knysna forest have long been the subject of mystery and conjecture. Over the years they have taken on an almost mythical quality, with many doubting whether they existed at all. In 1994 the local forestry department maintained that there was only one surviving Knysna elephant, the seldom seen female known as The Matriarch. The Knysna elephant was thus described as 'functionally extinct'. This was the official stance until September 2000 when forest guard Wilfred Oraai encountered and photographed a young bull from a distance of some thirty metres. The question arose: who was its mother? And, indeed, who was its father? In 2001 Gareth Patterson began an independent study of the Knysna elephant. For the next seven years he covered thousands of kilometres on foot, following ancient elephant paths through the dense Afromontane forest and the surrounding mountain fynbos. He found abundant signs to suggest that, far from dying out, the Knysna elephants are, quietly and secretly, holding their own. Patterson's fieldwork, and his dna research in collaboration with conservation geneticist Lori Eggert, established that at least five young females exist, lending support to Patterson's growing evidence that the Knysna forest and its surroundings are home to a small herd of young elephants. The Secret Elephants is the story of these remarkable animals that fought their way back from the brink of extinction without any help from humankind.

From an internationally renowned field scientist comes this fascinating story of her unexpected discovery of a RsecretS new mode of elephant communication. This unforgettable journey takes readers into the wilds of Africa where naturalists do their difficult work in a troubled land.

In 2001, environmentalist and wildlife author Gareth Patterson, well known for his fight for the greater protection of Africa's lions and elephants, set out in search of the truth about the Knysna elephants. Patterson uncovered new facts about the African elephant, facts that can now contribute to the future preservation of what has been described as 'the most loved animal in the world'. In a frightening world of environmental gloom and doom, climate change and the loss of wildlife species and habitat, The Secret Elephants in contrast tells how a tiny relic elephant population has defied what was thought to be inevitable extinction. Through previously unknown survival strategies the elephants have brought themselves back from the very brink.

"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.

“A style so conversational…that I felt like a privileged visitor riding beside her in her rickety Land-Rover as she showed me around the park." —The New York Times Book Review Cynthia Moss spent many years living in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park and studying the elephants there, and her long-term research has revealed much of what we now know about these complex and intelligent animals. In this book, she shares a more up-close and personal perspective, chronicling the lives of the elephant families led by matriarchs Teresia, Slit Ear, Torn Ear, Tania, and Tuskless, including a rare look at calves and their development. This edition is also updated with a new afterword, catching up on the families, covering current conservation issues, and “celebrating a species from which we could learn some moral as well as zoological lessons” (Chicago Tribune). “One is soon swept away by this ‘Babar’ for adults. By the end, one even begins to feel an aversion for people. One wants to curse human civilization and cry out, ‘Now God stand up for the elephants!’”—The New York Times “Moss speaks to the general reader, with charm as well as scientific authority…[An] elegantly written and ingeniously structured account.”—TheWall Street Journal “Any reader interested in animals will be captivated.”—Publishers Weekly

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.

Watch out, supervillains. There's a new spy in town . . . Secret Agent 00 Elephant has struggled through his secret service tests and how he's ready to take on his first spy mission: to find feline supervillain Vincent le Morte and stop him from destroying the world. He just needs to stay away from those mini pizzas . . . Good luck, Agent Elephant. The world is counting on you. AND REMEMBER: DO NOT GET DISTRACTED BY THE MINI-PIZZAS!