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(Salamander Books, London, 1991, ISBN 0 86101 556 8, 188 Pp., HB

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(Salamander Books, London, 1991, ISBN 0 86101 556 8, 188 Pp., HB BOOK REVIEWS Elephants on its place in Indian history use of colour photographs, and mythology by Professor D. both authors plead for a perma- Elephants hold a special place K. Lahiri-Choudhury. nent end to the killing of ele- in our affections; more so since In fact this book has every- phants for ivory. By the time the slaughters sponsored by the thing except a clear condemna- this review is published, CITES ivory trade have halved their tion of the greed for ivory, will have met in Japan and the numbers in Africa in the space which had brought some ele- decision to maintain or to lift of a single decade. phant populations to within a the ban on ivory trading will In The Roots of Heaven, writ- few years of extinction. Indeed, have been made. But regardless ten way back in the 1950s, the graphics in the section of the outcome in Kyoto, these Romain Gary perceived ele- devoted to the ivory trade I books have a united message phants as symbols of freedom. found uncharacteristically con- for the world with regard to Now, riding on the wave of fusing, because they tended to ivory: don't buy it; don't sell it; publicity generated by the suggest, quite wrongly in my don't wear it. ivory trade ban imposed by view, that the quota system put Brian Jackman. CITES at Lausanne in October in place by CITES was driving 1989, a spate of books have down the ivory trade at the appeared on the subject of the very time that poaching was at Other mammals world's largest living land its worst, and failed to show mammals. how the price of ivory fell like a Mammals of the Southern The Illustrated Encyclopedia stone as soon as the trade was African Subregion by J. D. of Elephants (Salamander banned. Skinner and R. H. N. Smithers Books, London, 1991, ISBN 0 No such criticism could be (University of Pretoria, 1990, 86101 556 8,188 pp., HB levelled at The African ISBN 0 86979 8022, 771 pp., HB £18.95), has been compiled by a Elephant: Last Days of Eden, £58.50 plus postage from panel of distinguished authors by Boyd Norton (Swan Hill Russel Friedman Books, and consultants headed by Press, Shrewsbury, 1991, ISBN 1 Millhouse, Firebell Alley, Keith Eltringham, who spent 85310 291 1,128 pp., HB Surbiton KT6 6JB, Tel: 081 399 many years working among the £16.95), and The African 3100, Fax: 081 390 8292). This is elephants of Uganda. In a clear Elephant: Twilight in Eden by the 2nd edition of a book that and concise text, aided by Roger L. DiSilvestro (John first appeared in 1983. African excellent colour graphics and Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester, mammals have been well cov- photographs, the entire story of 1991, ISBN 0 471 53207 X, 206 ered by a number of excellent elephants is set out, from their pp., HB £19.95). books. This is no exception and origins among the long-van- Both carry a foreword by Dr probably represents the best ished mammoths and stego- Richard Leakey, Director of the available text on the mammals dons to their current and con- Kenya Wildlife Service, who of a specific region of Africa. tentious relationships with fought and won a desperate The extensively revised text humankind. The section on the battle against the Somali ban- covers 338 species and there are social life of elephants, reflect- dits who were butchering his new colour plates. ing the work carried out by country's elephants during the The Southern African subre- Cynthia Moss and others in run-up to the ivory ban. Both gion is taken to include main- Kenya's Amboseli National books also hint in the similarity land Africa south of the Park, is particularly absorbing. of their titles at the impending Cunene/Zambezi rivers and its Touching as it does on the close tragedy, which has hung for so coastal waters, including those kinship bonds, which bind ele- long over the African elephant. of the Prince Edward Islands. phants together through their Where Boyd Morton scores is But the book has a wider scope long lives, and their extraordi- with his vast experience as a than the title suggests because nary ability to communicate magazine writer, which sends extensive information on distri- over long distances, it may help him to the front line of the bution, ecology and population to explain why we find these poaching war and rewards the biology is provided for those giant creatures so fascinating. reader with first-hand species that occur both within Unlike most of the elephant reportage in which you can and outside the region. Each books published in recent smell both the blood and the family account starts with a months it also gives generous beauty of wild Africa. general overview and a taxo- coverage to the Asian elephant, Lavishly illustrated, with cof- nomic key to genera. A similar with an excellent contribution fee-table format and generous introduction is given for each 122 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.126, on 28 Sep 2021 at 07:31:44, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300023474.
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