The first time I came across the name of Lawrence Anthony was when he passed away. A remarkable story went viral on social media about how two herds of elephants held a mourning vigil outside this conservationist’s residence. But then Lawrence enjoyed a unique relationship with these pachyderms, a story that he vividly chronicled in The Elephant Whisperer .
The book unfolds like a thriller as Lawrence narrates how he brought a herd of rogues whom nobody wanted alive, to his game reserve, Thula Thula in South Africa. Initially, the elephants kept trying to escape; out of sheer desperation, he started talking to the elephants imploring them to trust him and stay. Gradually, a relationship was forged between Lawrence and Nana, the matriarch, and the rogues began to settle down and allow visitors to observe them from a safe distance. Lawrence was witness to the unique ways elephants communicate with each other even across vast distances, and their uncanny sensory powers. For instance, they always knew when he would be returning from a trip and greet him near his house. The book is also about the adventure of running a game reserve where poaching is a constant threat and the relationship with tribal leaders needs to be managed as the land belongs to them and yes, there is the occasional mamba in the kitchen! Now, I want to read The Last Rhinos also set in Thula Thula and Babylon's Ark about Lawrence's involvement in saving the animals of the Baghdad Zoo during the Iraq war.
Primatologist Jane Goodall, best known for her work on chimpanzees, turns her attention to the world of plants in her latest book Seeds of Hope . Her fascination for the botanical world began as a child in her grandmother's garden in England and was strengthened during her work in Africa in the Gombe forest and through her travels as an environmental activist. She has an almost mystical connection with forests, which, in times of sorrow and despair, have given her solace. In the book, Goodall takes us on a magical mystery tour through the complex world of plants that have the ability to communicate with each other, propagate through ingenious methods of seed dispersion, and lure insects to pollination.Goodall also chronicles the history of botanical research and man's interaction, and even obsession, with plants, as cultivator, consumer and destroyer. Of particular concern to her are the techniques of modern industrial farming, especially genetically modified crops. She ends with a note of optimism by documenting many of the efforts around the world to protect forests, increase greenery in cities and adapt sustainable techniques of agriculture while taking care of the needs of the population. The perfect metaphor for her message is the story of the three trees that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that are still preserved today as symbols of hope and remembrance.
If you visit the town of El Valle in Panama, you will probably find the world's largest selection of frog figurines. These are modelled on the Golden Frog that even a decade ago, was found in plenty in the hills around El Valle. These frogs are extremely toxic and it is estimated that the poison in the skin of just one frog could exterminate a thousand mice. But then suddenly, a few years ago, the frogs started disappearing and biologists were able to preserve a few of them in tanks, in what came to be known as “The incredible frog hotel”. Soon, other species began to disappear from different parts of the world. Finally, the mystery killer was identified as a fungus that possibly moved along with shipments of African clawed frogs and exterminated whole species of amphibians once introduced to them.
This is just one example reported by Elizabeth Kolbert in The Sixth Extinction of how man through his direct or indirect actions, is responsible for rapidly exterminating wide swaths of plant and animal life. A mass extinction is defined as substantial biodiversity loss across the planet in a relatively short period and Kolbert recounts the evolution of the extinction theory that established that there were five such previous episodes, the most famous being the one that accounted for the dinosaurs. While scientists debate the cause of the previous five extinctions, they are unanimous that we are currently living through the Age of the Sixth Extinction where the villain is man. Kolbert has the ability to convey big scientific ideas in a lucid style as she traverses the globe from the Andes to the Great Barrier Reef, reporting on field trips with scientists, studying the impact of global warming, deforestation and acidification of our oceans. Meanwhile, palaeontologists and anthropologists reveal how even earliest man was responsible for exterminating the mammoths and great sloths. Kolbert's book is an important contribution to our understanding of the world we live in and to the fact that in our hands lie not only the future of evolution on this planet but of man's survival itself.
Gautam is the CEO of a publishing house. He can be contacted at compulsivebrowser@gmail.com
