Discusses the depth of animal perception and emotions. The main ones featured in the book are elephants, wolves, chimpanzees, dolphins, orcas and other whales. Quite a few others were mentioned too: parrots, crows, dogs, octopus, tortoises and so on. A large section of the first section is from time the author spent accompanying an elephant researcher, viewing the elephant families in a protected park while she told him what was going on among them. The strength of their families, their tenderness towards the young, their apparent curiosity about and sometimes concern for humans, was striking. When the book moves on to wolves, it’s a lot about how much they need to roam, to travel, to be doing things. Again, how important family and care of the young is to wolves. And the section about whales, also featuring many passages where Safina describes conversations and time spent with a whale researcher, also has much about their family bonds, intelligence, and awareness of humans. I had already read in many places before, some of the examples in this book that display the keen awareness and clear thought processes animals are capable of. Not that I minded hearing them again, and from so eloquent a writer! But the final pages, about dolphins and whales, included a lot of information on how terribly we have treated the animals. We haven’t been very kind to elephants and wolves, either- but the stories of whales were new to me, so I was struck with appalling shame (for the human species) and anger. This book covers so much material, I can’t begin to describe it all. It was moving, eye-opening, and saddening at the same time. I borrowed it as an audiobook from the public library. This one was narrated by the author- which I liked, except that he spoke a bit too quickly. It would have been easier to follow if the pace was a tad slower, for me at least. This is one I definitely want to read again as paper in hand, and add to my own library collection too.
Rating: 4/5
496 pages, 2015
One Response
Yes that book I read about dolphins earlier in the year filled me more shame than I ever remember feeling before. And some of this stuff is still going on. Makes me want to weep.