by Lang Reid
This book, compiled by Robert Delort is published by
the New Horizons group. The back cover claims it presents the wonderful
story of the elephant, from the extinct mammoths of the Ice Age to their
present day battle for survival.
Indeed it does commence with the Ice Age mammoths and
even its forebears, little Moeritherium of Egypt, 45 million years ago.
The first chapter then moves on to the two main branches of the elephant
kingdom and goes through the anatomical differences seen in the end of the
trunk, the forefoot toes and ears, skull shape and general size.
The
following chapter compares and describes the historical differences
between the African and the Asian elephants. This was a most interesting
chapter highlighting the different position the elephant has assumed in
the African and Asian societies, which in some ways is a reflection on the
stratification of the society in the two regions. The Asian elephant
featured strongly in Buddhism and Brahminism and the elephants were tamed
and domesticated to be able to be used efficiently. The integration of the
elephant was so deeply rooted in the local folklore that elephants even
had their own caste system!
The African elephant, by contrast, was merely thought
of by the African tribes people as a mountainous reservoir of food which
could be harvested, albeit with great personal danger. In fact, to slay an
elephant was even considered as a rite of passage into manhood by some
African tribes.
One chapter deals with the capture of elephants, again
in two different ways depending upon which continent. If you consider the
animal to be food only, it is easier to capture “dead or alive”, while
if the concept is to increase the herd of domesticated working animals,
then the options are less.
Many pages are devoted to the trade in ivory, called
the elephant’s curse. Up till 1990, when treaties were signed, the
elephants were at the mercy of the ivory poachers who left a legacy of
killed and mutilated animals. As an interesting aside, mammoth ivory is
now in good supply!
The pages have excellent side annotations and the full
colour illustrations and some remarkable photographs go right the way
through the book, other than the last few pages.
At the end of the book, there is a very detailed
section with suggested further reading, a list of illustrations and their
origin, and an index. Great resources.
Available from Bookazine, 1st floor Royal Garden Plaza
(next to Black Canyon and Boots) for 495 baht, this is not an inexpensive
200 page book, but it certainly packs in some information between the
covers. One reason for this is the small font size making for printing
which is not all that easy to read for those over 40! However, for someone
looking for an information source book about elephants you will be hard
pressed to find a more complete and compact package. As an elephant lover
myself it opened my eyes to some interesting historical facts as well as a
further insight into the ‘psyche’ of the elephant. A wonderful read.
Set
during World War II, “Never Land” starts with Wendy Darling all grown
up with two children of her own, a toddler son and a precocious pre-teen
daughter named Jane. While her father is away fighting the Nazis, Jane
takes it upon herself to protect the family from the threat of war. Wendy
spends time with her son telling tales of her time with Peter Pan,
Tinkerbell, the Lost Boys and Captain Hook but Jane remains a disbeliever.
Mott’s
CD review: 