The Elephant's Secret Sense: the Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa
Language: English
Published by Free Press, 2007
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Good
£ 4.81
Quantity: 2 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
While observing a family of elephants in the wild, Caitlin O'Connell noticed a peculiar listening behavior--the 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 Sense is 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 Sense is 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 of Among the Elephants.…
Seller Inventory # CIN0743284410G
- Title
- The Elephant's Secret Sense: the Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa
- Author
- Caitlin O'connell
- Publisher
- Free Press
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0743284410
- ISBN 13
- 9780743284417
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"[This] book is far more than just this marvellous discovery and its role in the social lives of elephant. O’Connell also tells hauntingly of having to navigate the increasing conflict between the world of wild elephants and the world of humans trying to eke out survival from the soils of Africa, and how both sides lose in the process. This is a deeply engaging book." (Robert Sapolsky - Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and author of Why Zebras D)
“This fascinating book reads like a fast paced detective story of scientific discovery and adventure.” (Iain Douglas-Hamilton - author of Among the Elephants, and co-author with his wife Oria, of Battle f)
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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