cover image The African Elephant: Last Days of Eden

The African Elephant: Last Days of Eden

Boyd Norton. Voyageur Press (MN), $29.95 (127pp) ISBN 978-0-89658-158-6

Photojournalist Norton ( The Mountain Gorilla ), widely traveled in Africa, reports on dwindling elephant populations in Kenya and Tanzania. Tracing efforts to combat poaching, he addresses the politics and economics of ivory commerce. Lavish photographs offer a splendid tour of East African national parks, some private reserves and an elephant orphanage. As he reviews the development of the elephant and its niche among other indigenous wildlife species, Norton turns to such authorities as Cynthia Moss, Richard Leakey and Iain Douglas-Hamilton to discuss the elephant's uncertain future. A persuasive testament to the value of this magnificent animal and the need to assure its future. (Nov.)