CRY OF THE KALAHARI,OWENS,1984,7 YEARS IN AFRICA WILD

CRY OF THE KALAHARI

SEVEN YEARS IN AFRICA'S LAST GREAT WILDERNESS

BY

MARK AND DELIA OWENS

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

BOSTON

1984

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"IN 1974, CARRYING LITTLE MORE THAN A CHANGE OF CLOTHES AND A PAIR OF BINOCULARS, TWO YOUNG AMERICANS, MARK AND DELIA OWENS CAUGHT A PLANE TO AFRICA, BROUGHT A THIRD HAND LAND ROVER, AND DROVE DEEP INTO THE KALAHARI DESERT.  THERE THEY LIVED FOR SEVEN YEARS, IN AN UNEXPLORED AREA WITH NO ROADS, NO PEOPLE, AND NO SOURCE OF WATER FOR THOUSANDS OF SQUARE MILES.  THEY SURVIVED WITHOUT A TENT FOR THE FIRST YEAR, TAKING SHELTER IN A CLUMP OF TREES OR IN THE TRUCK.  IN THIS VAST WILDERNESS THEY MET ANIMALS THAT HAD NEVER SEN HUMANS BEFORE, ANIMALS AS CURIOUS ABOUT THE OFFENSES AS THE OWENS' WERE ABOUT THEM.  THEY WOULD WAKE IN THE MORNING TO FIND LIONS SLEEPING BESIDE THEM AND LEOPARDS, GIRAFFES AND BROWN HYENAS WERE REGULAR VISITORS TO THE CAMP.  BUT THE KALAHARI ISN'T EDEN,AND MARK AND DELIA WERE CONTINUALLY CONFRONTED WITH DANGER--FROM THIRST, FIRE, VIOLENT STORMS, AND EVEN FROM THE ANIMALS THEY LOVED."

"THEIR SEVEN YEARS IN THE KALAHARI WERE NOT JUST AN ADVENTURE.  THE AUTHOR'S GOAL WAS TO CONSERVE THE WILDLIFE OF ONE OF AFRICA'S LAST UNTOUCHED WILDERNESSES.  FROM THEIR MEAGER BEGINNINGS THEY DEVELOPED ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSERVATION RESEARCH PROJECTS EVER CONDUCTED.  THEY LEARNED HOW KALAHARI LIONS AND BROWN HYENAS SURVIVE DROUGHTS WITH LITTLE TO EAT AND NORTHING TO DRINK FOR MONTHS OR YEARS, HOW HARSH CONDITIONS FORCE LIONS TO ABANDON THEIR PRIDES, AND HOW BROWN HYENAS, FORMERLY THOUGHT TO BE SOLITARY SCAVENGERS, HELP ONE ANOTHER IN RAISING YOUNG AND EVEN ADOPT EACH OTHER'S ORPHANS. BECAUSE THE WILDLIFE OF THE CENTRAL KALAHARI HAD NEVER BEEN STUDIED BEFORE, VIRTUALLY EVERY OBSERVATION MARK AND ELIA MADE WAS AN IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY."

"THE CHARACTERS, ANIMAL AND HUMAN, ARE AS COMPELLING AS THE STORY.  THEY INCLUDE BERGIE, THE OLD MAN OF THE DESERT; MOX, THE OWEN'S' MAN FRIDAY; THE HARD DRINKING HUNTERS OF MAUN; BONES, THE LION WHO SURVIVED A BROKEN LEG AND MAKESHIFT SURGERY; STAR THE HYENA; WILLIAM THE SHREW; AND THE JACKALS CAPTAIN AND MATE."

CONTENTS...

• THE JUMBLIES
• WATER
• FIRE
• THE CRY OF THE KALAHARI
• STAR
• CAMP
• MAUN: THE AFRICAN FRONTIER
• BONES
• THE CARNIVORE RIVALRY
• LIONS IN THE RAIN
• THE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN STORY
• RETURN TO DECEPTION
• GONE FROM THE VALLEY
• THE TROPHY SHED
• ECHO WHISKY GOLF
• KALAHARI GYPSIES
• GYPSY CUB
• LIONS WITH NO PRIDE
• THE DUST OF MY FRIEND
• A SCHOOL FOR SCAVENGERS
• PEPPER
• MUFFIN URANIUM
• BLUE
• BLACK PEARS IN THE DESERT
• KALAHARI HIGH

THIS BOOK IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION.  IN FACT, APPEARS UNREAD.  THE COVER IS LIGHTLY SOILED, WITH SOME SCRAPES AND EDGE CREASES AND VERY SMALL RIPS.  THE COVER IS CLEAN, EDGES AND CORNERS GENTLY BUMPED AND SCRAPED. THE BINDING IS TIGHT AND ALL PAGES CLEAN AND INTACT.  A NICE COPY WITH MANY BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND 341 PAGES.