The Elephant's Secret Sense

by O'Connell, Caitlin

• ISBN13: 9780226616742
• ISBN10: 0226616746
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

While observing a family of elephants in the wild, Caitlin O'Connell noticed a peculiar listening behaviorthe matriarch lifted her foot and scanned the horizon, causing the other elephants to follow suit, as if they could "hear" the ground.The Elephant's Secret Senseis O'Connell's account of her groundbreaking research into seismic listening and communication, chronicling the extraordinary social lives of elephants over the course of fourteen years in the Namibian wilderness. This compelling odyssey of scientific discovery is also a frank account of fieldwork in a poverty-stricken, war-ravaged country. In her attempts to study an elephant community, O'Connell encounters corrupt government bureaucrats, deadly lions and rhinos, poachers, farmers fighting for arable land, and profoundly ineffective approaches to wildlife conservation.The Elephant's Secret Senseis ultimately a story of intellectual courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. "I was transported by the author's superbly sensuous descriptions of her years spent studying the animals. . . . Conjures a high-class nature documentary film in prose."Steven Poole,Guardian "A ride as rough and astonishing as the roads of the African floodplain."Joan Keener,Entertainment Weekly "A successful combination of science and soulfulness, explaining her groundbreaking theory of how elephants use seismic communication. . . . O'Connell's account is studded with sympathetic insights and well-turned phrases."Publishers Weekly "This fascinating book reads like a fast-paced detective story of a scientific discovery and adventure set in contemporary Africa. . . . By the end, O'Connell takes her rightful place among the leading biographers of the African elephant."Iain Douglas-Hamilton, author ofAmong the Elephants

Author Biography

Caitlin O’Connell is an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery at Stanford University. Her discoveries have been published in various periodicals, including Science, Science News, Natural History, National Geographic, the Economist, and Discover.

Table of Contents

Listening Through Limbs	p. 1
The Caprivi	p. 21
Wet Season Elephant Wars	p. 37
Making Sense of the Elephant	p. 55
Tiptoeing Elephants	p. 71
The Dry Season	p. 79
The Mother of All Elephants	p. 97
Elephants on the Move	p. 109
Cracking Elephant Morse Code	p. 119
Ivory Ghosts	p. 127
The Wheels of Conservation	p. 145
Donna the Dancer	p. 157
Back to Mushara in Style	p. 171
Keeping and Ear to the Ground	p. 183
Wynona's Last Stand	p. 195
The Gentlemen's Club	p. 209
The Sails of Mushara	p. 217
Acknowledgments	p. 225
Index	p. 231
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.