Understanding elephants

Author: Elephant Specialist Advisory Group (ESAG)
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
ISBN: 1775843424
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Elephants are arguably Africa’s most charismatic animals, and among the biggest drawcards to our game reserves. While the burgeoning game-park industry may be increasing our access to these magnificent creatures, rising human-elephant encounters are an inevitable outcome – sometimes, sadly, fatal. Such encounters could likely have been avoided had those involved understood elephant behaviour, and particularly how these intelligent animals interface with traffic through their territory. This book describes elephant family life, from rearing of infants to establishing dominance within a herd; it unpacks regular elephant behaviour, the matriarchal system, the particular dangers of males in musth, and many other aspects of their lives. Most of all, it provides guidelines for ensuring safe and enjoyable encounters with these majestic animals. This is an essential guide for those planning visits to reserves: aside from the interest factor, being able to read the tell-tale signs may just save lives.

Understanding Elephants

Author:
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
ISBN: 9781775843412
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
Elephants are arguably Africa's most charismatic animals, and among the biggest drawcards to our game reserves. While the burgeoning game-park industry may be increasing our access to these magnificent creatures, rising human-elephant encounters are an inevitable outcome - sometimes, sadly, fatal. Such encounters could likely have been avoided had those involved understood elephant behaviour, and particularly how these intelligent animals interface with traffic through their territory. This book describes elephant family life, from rearing of infants to establishing dominance within a herd; it unpacks regular elephant behaviour, the matriarchal system, the particular dangers of males in musth, and many other aspects of their lives. Most of all, it provides guidelines for ensuring safe and enjoyable encounters with these majestic animals. This is an essential guide for those planning visits to reserves: aside from the interest factor, being able to read the tell-tale signs may just save lives.

Why Elephants Have Big Ears

Author: Chris Lavers
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429976691
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Book Description
Why Elephants Have Big Ears is the result of one man's lifelong quest to understand why the creatures of the earth appear and act as they do. In a wry manner and personal tone, Chris Lavers explores and solves some of nature's most challenging evolutionary mysteries, such as why birds are small and plentiful, why rivers and lakes are dominated by the few remaining large reptiles, why most of the large land-dwellers are mammals, and many more.

The Living Elephants

Author: Raman Sukumar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198026730
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 495

Book Description
The Living Elephants is the authoritative resource for information on both Asian and African elephants. From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering array of species, but also discussing the possible role of humans in the late Pleistocene extinction of mastodonts and mammoths. The latest information on the molecular genetics of African and Asian elephants and its taxonomic implications are then presented. The rise of the elephant culture in Asia, and its early demise in Africa are traced along with an original interpretation of this unique animal-human relationship. The book then moves on to the social life of elephants as it relates to reproductive strategies of males and females, development of behavior in young, communication, ranging patterns, and societal organization. The foraging strategies of elephants, their impact on the vegetation and landscape are then discussed. The dynamics of elephant populations in relation to hunting for ivory and their population viability are described with the aid of mathematical models. A detailed account of elephant-human interactions includes a treatment of crop depredation by elephants in relation to their natural ecology, manslaughter by elephants, habitat manipulation by humans, and a history of the ivory trade and poaching in the two continents. The ecological information is brought together in the final chapter to formulate a set of pragmatic recommendations for the long-term conservation of elephants. The broadest treatment of the subject yet undertaken, by one of the leading workers in the field, Raman Sukumar, the book promises to bring the understanding of elephants to a new level. It should be of interest not only to biologists but also a broader audience including field ecologists, wildlife administrators, historians, conservationists and all those interested in elephants and their future.

Elephants on the Edge

Author: G. A. Bradshaw
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300154917
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
“At times sad and at times heartwarming . . . Helps us to understand not only elephants, but all animals, including ourselves” (Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation). Drawing on accounts from India to Africa and California to Tennessee, and on research in neuroscience, psychology, and animal behavior, G. A. Bradshaw explores the minds, emotions, and lives of elephants. Wars, starvation, mass culls, poaching, and habitat loss have reduced elephant numbers from more than ten million to a few hundred thousand, leaving orphans bereft of the elders who would normally mentor them. As a consequence, traumatized elephants have become aggressive against people, other animals, and even one another; their behavior is comparable to that of humans who have experienced genocide, other types of violence, and social collapse. By exploring the elephant mind and experience in the wild and in captivity, Bradshaw bears witness to the breakdown of ancient elephant cultures. But, she reminds us, all is not lost. People are working to save elephants by rescuing orphaned infants and rehabilitating adult zoo and circus elephants, using the same principles psychologists apply in treating humans who have survived trauma. Bradshaw urges us to support these and other models of elephant recovery and to solve pressing social and environmental crises affecting all animals—humans included. “This book opens the door into the soul of the elephant. It will really make you think about our relationship with other animals.” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

Eavesdropping on Elephants

Author: Patricia Newman
Publisher: Millbrook Press (Tm)
ISBN: 1541515714
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 60

Book Description
Can understanding how forest elephants communicate help scientists find ways to protect this vulnerable species? Researcher Katy Pane and others involved with Cornell University's Elephant Listening Project believe it can. Patricia Newman takes readers behind the scenes to see how scientists are making new discoveries about elephant communication and using what they learn to help these majestic animals.

Why Do Elephants Need the Sun?

Author: Robert E. Wells
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN: 080759346X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 37

Book Description
There are trillions of stars in the universe, but we rely on our sun to provide (or contribute to) most of what we need to survive and thrive: heat, light, plants, animals, wind, and water. Complete with fun, cartoon illustrations, this book give kids plenty of information about our sun in an easy-to-read and digest format. By focusing on the needs of an elephant, Wells makes clear just how important the sun is to life on Earth.

Twenty-one Elephants and Still Standing

Author: April Jones Prince
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 061844887X
Category : Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.)
Languages : en
Pages : 44

Book Description
Upon completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, P.T. Barnum and his twenty- one elephants parade across to prove to everyone that the bridge is safe.

Six Blind Elephants

Author: Steve Andreas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780911226423
Category : Neurolinguistic programming
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In this book, the fundamental understandings of scope, category, and logical levels established in Volume I are applied to understanding a variety of more complex and troublesome communication patterns, showing how these understandings can be used for positive personal change. This book applies the fundamental understandings to additional communication patterns that are more subtle, obscure, and complex: Implication, Negation, Judgment, Modes of Operating, Self-reference, Self-contradiction, Paradox, Certainty, Double-binds, and Metaphor, An annotated verbatim transcript of a session in which a client reaches forgiveness shows how these patterns can be used in a systematic way to achieve a client's outcome. All these patterns often exist in the painful and confusing communication traps that people often find themselves in, yet most people are unaware of them, and usually respond to them or use them unconsciously. Understanding how these patterns work makes it possible to recognize them, and use them in positive ways to help yourself and others out of these communication dead-ends, enhancing your life and the lives of others. Specific examples show how many of these patterns were essential elements in the work of Milton Erickson and other effective therapists. (Best read along with Volume I.)

Elephants

Author: Jessica Christine White
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artists' books
Languages : en
Pages : 6

Book Description