Penguin SA

As a child in South Africa, spending summers exploring the wild with his boyhood friends, Lyall Watson came face to face with his first elephant. From that moment on, Watson’s fascination grew into a lifelong obsession with understanding the nature and behaviour of this impressive creature.

Around the world, the elephant – at once a symbol of spiritual power and physical endurance – has been worshipped as a god and hunted for sport. In this captivating portrait of the elephant, Watson draws from scientific research, anthropological studies, and personal experience to document the animal’s wide-ranging capabilities to remember and to mourn; and he reminds us of its rich mythic origins, its evolution, and its devastation in recent history.

Part meditation on an elusive animal, part evocation of the power of place, Elephantoms presents an alluring mix of the mysteries of nature and the wonders of childhood.

About the author

Born in Johannesburg in 1939, Lyall Watson was an author, zoologist, scientist and adventurer. He entered the University of the Witwatersrand at the age of 15 and completed degrees in botany and zoology, and would later gain further degrees in chemistry, geology, marine biology and ecology. He is the author of over twenty books, and is best remembered for the bestseller Supernature (see also Beyond Supernature), which was first published in 1973 and would go on to sell over 750 000 copies.

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• Elephantoms by Lyall Watson
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  EAN: 9780143024538
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Gareth Patterson, author of The Secret Elephants, began an investigation into the Knysna elephants eight years ago. His findings, detailed in the following interview, lead him to discount the theory that there is only a single elephant left. Patterson argues that a herd – nine pachyderms strong – is in existence.

South African National Parks (SANParks) released a position paper last year stating there is “no reliable evidence” that more than one Knysna elephant, a female, remains.

Nothing has made them change this stand. Not DNA analysis on elephant dung Patterson collected, which found the samples came from five females. Not footage of a Knysna bull elephant captured in a documentary produced by Natural History Unit Africa and Animal Planet that was screened at cinemas in Knysna and Cape Town.

• Complete article in the Mail & Guardian

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• The Secret Elephants by Gareth Patterson
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  EAN: 9780143026136
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Rumours about elephants roaming the Knysna forests are almost as old as the trees themselves. And, for the past decade at least, many assumed that that’s all these elephants were – rumours, augmented by one mysterious Matriarch, last seen in 1999.

Author and conservationist Gareth Patterson set off on a quest to seek any “lost” elephants that might be found – and ran into evidence that the forests contain, not just elephants, but elephant herds, albeit small ones, on practically his first day. After eight years of intense exploration and research, Patterson and his team have verified that there are at least five cows in the forests, plus three bulls – and DNA tests confirm the results.

Patterson’s work has been turned into a film, The Search for the Knysna Elephants, which is playing at the Labia Theatre in Cape Town all this week. You won’t want to miss the incredible footage – book now!

Patterson’s journey will leave you marveling and, quite possibly, packing your bags for a vacation in Knysna. Listen to Gareth as he reads an extract from his book, The Secret Elephants, detailing an encounter with a young forest pachyderm:

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• Visit GarethPatterson.com for more

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• The Secret Elephants by Gareth Patterson
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  EAN: 9780143026136
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Penguin and Wordsworth Books take pleasure in inviting you to the Knysna launch of Gareth Patterson’s The Secret Elephants.

The elephants of the Knysna forest have long been the subject of mystery and conjecture. Over the years they have taken on an almost mythical quality, with many doubting whether they existed at all.

Meet Patterson and hear his incredible story about tracking these “lost” mammals through the dense coastal forests. We’ll see you there!

Event Details

• Date: Friday, 23 October 2009
• Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
• Venue: Wordsworth Books, Knysna, Shop E, Knysna Mall
  Main Road
  Knysna
• RSVP: knysna@wordsworth.co.za, 044 382 2349

Book Details

• The Secret Elephants by Gareth Patterson
  Book Homepage
  EAN: 9780143026136
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This October: The Secret Elephants, Gareth Patterson’s rediscovery of the world’s most southerly elephants. A remarkable story of how these animals fought their way back from the brink of extinction without any help from humankind.

The elephants of the Knysna forest have long been the subject of mystery and conjecture. Over the years they have taken on an almost mythical quality, with many doubting whether they existed at all.

In 1994 the local forestry department maintained that there was only one surviving Knysna elephant, the seldom seen female known as The Matriarch. The Knysna elephant was thus described as ‘functionally extinct’.

This was the official stance until September 2000 when forest guard Wilfred Oraai encountered and photographed a young bull from a distance of some thirty metres. The question arose: who was its mother? And, indeed, who was its father?

In 2001 Gareth Patterson began an independent study of the Knysna elephant. For the next seven years he covered thousands of kilometres on foot, following ancient elephant paths through the dense Afromontane forest and the surrounding mountain fynbos. He found abundant signs to suggest that, far from dying out, the Knysna elephants are, quietly and secretly, holding their own.

Patterson’s fieldwork, and his DNA research in collaboration with conservation geneticist Lori Eggert, established that at least five young females exist, lending support to Patterson’s growing evidence that the Knysna forest and its surroundings are home to a small herd of young elephants.

About the author

Well known for his work on the African lion, Gareth Patterson is an environmentalist, independent wildlife researcher and author who has worked tirelessly for more than twenty-five years for the greater protection of African wildlife. Patterson’s love for the wild has spurred various projects surrounding animal rights. He is the author of Where the Lion Walked (1991) and Dying to be Free (1998). He lives in Knysna and knows the area well. This very personal narrative recounts the powerful impact of these most endangered elephants on Patterson’s life.

Book details

• The Secret Elephants by Gareth Patterson
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9780143026136
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Please join Penguin Books for these exciting events at the 2009 Cape Town Book Fair (including plenty for the kids!):
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In the spirit of environmental awareness, the book launch of Simon Gear’s Going Green: 365 Ways to Change our World was adorned with a spattering of fans and beauty queen contestants from Miss Earth SA 2009.

As Gear jokingly put it, if he’d known this was the way to attract beautiful women, he would have written a book years ago.

Going Green was inspired and developed from Radio 702’s Green Tips show, which Gear, as an environmental correspondent for 702, contributes to on a regular basis.
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