Elephant Summer

Elephant Summer is a contemporary look at an age-old problem (Elephant Conservation) through the eyes of three best friends from GeorgeAnn, Texas. Taylor Jackson, Jackie Cooper and Smiley O'Dell visit an uncle in Kenya for the summer and become interested in the elephants in the Amboseli region, and intimately involved with one particular elephant family led by an old matriarch they call Sweety Pie. "We had left our small town of GeorgeAnn, Texas, to spend the summer with my Uncle Keeno in the jungles of Kenya. As an archeologist, it was his job to explore the region for clues of pre-historic man. For Jackie, Smiley, and me, it was just supposed to be a lot of fun. Now we were running for our lives, our legs pumping up and down like pistons, my heart pounding in my chest like cannon-fire." The three friends join two elephant researchers on their day to day sojourns into the bush and across the savannas to learn all they can about the elephants they are falling in love with...and their complicated and endless array of problems. Authors' Note: Culling has been a means of elephant population control in various areas of Africa for over fifty years. However, Kenya has recently stopped the practice of culling and currently prohibits culling as a means of elephant population management. Nevertheless, the act of culling as a manner of elephant population control is still practiced within other countries of the African continent. Hopefully, other countries in Africa will soon follow Kenya's lead and prohibit culling as a means of wildlife management, within their own boundaries as well.

Readers who have discovered the delights of the British master storyteller H.E. Bates will welcome this third collection. Gathered here are twenty stories written between 1938 and 1964 which are gems of human observation.

Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel's Life of Pi. So begins his "lovely and human" (Jenny Lawson, author of Furiously Happy) tale of obsessively pursuing a dream, overcoming failure, and finding meaning in life. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I found myself standing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. Far below me was an incredible abyss with no end in sight. I could turn back and safely return to where I had come from, or I could throw caution to the wind, lift my arms up into the air . . . and jump.” —From The Elephants in My Backyard What happens when you spend ten years obsessively pursuing a dream, and then, in the blink of an eye, you learn that you have failed, that the dream will not come true? In 2003, Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Mesmerized by all the similarities between Pi and himself—both are five-foot-five with coffee-colored complexions, both share a South Indian culture, both lived by a zoo—when Rajiv learns that Life of Pi will be made into a major motion picture he is convinced that playing the title role is his destiny. In a great leap of faith Rajiv embarks on a quest to embody the sixteen-year-old Tamil schoolboy. He quits university and buys a one-way ticket from Toronto to South India. He visits the sacred stone temples of Pondicherry, he travels to the frigid waters off the coast of rural Maine, and explores the cobbled streets of Munich. He befriends Yann Martel, a priest, a castaway, an eccentric old woman, and a pack of Tamil schoolboys. He learns how to swim, to spin wool, to keep bees, and to look a tiger in the eye. All the while he is really learning how to dream big, to fail, to survive, to love, and to become who he truly is. Rajiv Surendra captures the uncertainty, heartache, and joy of finding ones place in the world with sly humor and refreshing honesty. The Elephants in My Backyard is not a journey of goals and victories, but a story of process and determination. It is a spellbinding and profound book for anyone who has ever failed at something and had to find a new path through life.

Why elephant is known as, “The Lady Boss”? The Indian elephant Elephas maximus, the matriarchal society is led by the wisest and eldest female of the family/herd. Here, the matriarch is the boss. Being hub of the family, she not only performs the usual maternal tasks, but also protects the family with extreme efficiency from poten¬tial enemies, apart from guiding the family to safety in times of crises. The matriarch keeps male suitors at a trunk’s distance, only allowing them to join the herd when their presence is felt necessary to service the females in oestrus. Her long memory over fifty years experiences, among others, help in leading the family to introduce potential feeding grounds, waterholes, natural springs and salt licks within her domain ranging over 50 or more km2. The matriarchal family remains united and truly stable to enable to wage war against adversaries and enemies. With prowess and devotion to her kin, the ‘gentle giant’ remains the unques-tionable authority. She acts like a lady and thinks like a boss! Hence the book, “ELEPHANT-THE LADY BOSS”.

A magical adventure for fans of Katherine Applegate and Jennifer Holm about a girl with a mysterious connection to the elephant who saved her life. An elephant never forgets, but Lexington Willow can't remember her past. Swept away by a tornado as a toddler, she was dropped in a nearby Nebraska zoo, where an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear. Years later, Nyah sends Lex a telepathic image of the woods outside the zoo. Soon, Lex is wrapped up in an adventure involving ghosts, lost treasure, and a puzzle that might be the key to finding her family. Can Lex summon the courage to discover who she really is--and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?

Maintaining the healthy foot condition of captive Asian and African elephants is one of the most important yet most difficult tasks for zookeepers, veterinarians, and researchers. Recognizing the need for a convenient and comprehensive health care manual, Blair Csuti, Eva Sargent and Ursula Bechert present The Elephant's Foot. Born out of a national conference on elephant care and physiology, this book is backed by 46 of the foremost authorities on the subject. After a general overview of the elephant foot's anatomy and physiology, The Elephant's Foot leads practitioners through recognition, prevention, and treatment of a variety of foot problems. From nail infections to foot abcesses, readers will find this text contains solutions for most foot troubles with remedies or additional recommendations. This book will support anyone simply studying elephants or those working with elephants on a daily basis.

Based on a true story, the tale of a nine-year-old with mental illness, and a mother who strives to find balance between her work and family.