The Fate of the Elephant

by Douglas H. Chadwick

With a single hand, he can pull two palm trees to the ground. If he had two hands, he could tear the sky . . .

So unfolds a Yoruba poem celebrating the largest, most powerful, and one of the smartest creatures to walk the planet: the elephant. In this richly detailed exploration of the natural history and troubled fate of both the African and Asian species of elephant, noted wildlife biologist and author Douglas Chadwick travels the world to acquaint us with these awesome giants.

Through visits to India, Siberia, Botswana, Thailand, Malaysia, Kenya, and even an American zoo, Chadwick illustrates the pivotal role the elephant plays in shaping and balancing not only the ecosystems it calls home, but also the livelihoods of a wide array of people. We travel to East Africa and join elephant families on the savannas of Amboseli Reserve in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. In the thick jungles of the Congo Basin, Chadwick leads us down pygmy footpaths on the trail of the elusive forest elephant. In Asia we experience a day in the life of a working elephant at an Indian timber camp, and take a raft trip to transplant problem elephants to remote areas of the Malaysian rainforest. At the zoo, we watch a four-ton artist take brush in trunk and paint a canvas with delicate strokes. In each place we visit, Chadwick reveals the elephant as a playful, intelligent being, full of surprises and ready to smash the narrow confines from which we traditionally view animals.

As he shows us how similar elephants are to humans - they travel in closely knit families, learn from each other, look after their ill and elderly, mourn their dead, and communicate through a vocabulary of audible and subsonic sounds that addup to a surprisingly nuanced and expressive language - he leads us to rethink our definition of and approach to conservation.

Chadwick also introduces us to the people whose lives are intimately connected with the elephant's - mahouts, researchers, loggers, royal white elephant metaphysicians, veterinarians, poachers, and some of the world's most talented ivory carvers. He illustrates how the elephant is integral to the history and mythology of the peoples with whom it has lived, and shows us why, despite that bond, elephants and humans have come into inevitable conflict as they vie for the same crucial tracts of land. Discussing the combination of factors that have pushed the elephant to the brink of extinction - the drastic loss of habitat, the ruthless pursuit of ivory, the unstable societies in crowded nations - Chadwick shows us why the fate of the elephant is a potent metaphor for our own fate, and makes a compelling case for acting immediately to save the elephant from oblivion, lest we destroy a creature we are only beginning to understand.

Genres: Nonfiction, Natural History, Animals, Nature

492 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is insightful, funny, informative, exciting, sad, wonderful. Chadwick's style is flawless: easy to read, fun, extremely educational, and intelligent. I have loved elephants ever since I wrote a report about Loxidanta Africana as a fifth grader, and when I saw this book while shelf reading at the library, I had to read it. It took me a while because it's not always something I wanted to read. It's sad, and it's difficult to get through the sections on the widespread killing and torture of elephants. It's worth it overall, though, for the information and especially for the glimpses that Chadwick gives his readers of these amazing creatures and their intelligence, emotional life, and social connections. As Chadwick writes, elephants really are human-like, anthropomorphic as that statement is to make. His point isn't to make elephants into humans. His point is to make humans understand how wonderful these animals are, so that humans will stop killing them. They are not dumb, brute beasts. They are intelligent, caring creatures with many ways similar to ours.
I recommend this book to elephant lovers like myself, people interested in conservation, readers curious about South Asian and African countries and their government/conservation/economic systems. Overall, a very interesting, enlightening (albeit somewhat depressing) read.

[John Ulferts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary and important book. It is absolutely just as relevant 30 years after it was first written. Elephants are incredible emotional, intelligent, sentient beings. Whenever you spend time with them, you leave somehow a better person. Chadwick's book details their behavior as well as the peril humanity has put them in. The world is in the midst of the sixth extinction. The insatiable appetite for ivory, land, and climate change has put the elephants in terrible peril. We are losing them at an incredibly fast rate. We must all do everything within our power to save this incredible species. Hindus consider them Gods. I think they may not be far off. Please join Save the Elephants, the Wildlife Conservation Network supported charity, or the Elephant Crisis Fund, also sponsored by the WCN.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book but so depressing. I lowered the rating by one star because the author really is fairly biased against the hunting of elephants, he states that bias and his others clearly, so that's helpful, but he does struggle to leave it to the side.
I appreciated the fact that this book covers all types of elephant populations, it really is comprehensive in that way. I also thought that while a lot of organizations talk about human-elephant conflict, this author spends a fair bit of time talking about the issue of human population numbers in general, which I think is sometimes overlooked or downplayed in other sources.
I would recommend this difficult read.

[Mark Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reading about elephants, their lore and place in the African and Asian worlds. Confirms the legends that elephants will go out of their way to commune with the bones of their deceased family members. They remember, most likely, because so much of their brain is attuned to the sense of smell and they can detect familiar scents long after a family member has died.

[Nandan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the few books written by an actual naturalist on Elephants. I have probably read all the books ever written by Researchers or Naturalists and this is definitely one of my favorites. Also, this books takes you across the world in its attempt to capture the fate of Elephants.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very in-depth history and current problems facing elephants today. Hard going and one I pick up and read then put down for awhile to digest the information.