Customer Reviews

The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I suspect the book is a little over my head, but it's very thorough & well-reasearched. For a layman like myself, I think I'd like photos - or colour pictures of the animals too - but as the author says, the book goes beyond the normal "field guides" which aim to help with animal identification.

If you want to know things like how the lives of a dikdik & a duiker differ (but you could tell them apart), this is the book for you!

I suspect the book is a little over my head, but it's very thorough & well-reasearched. For a layman like myself, I think I'd like photos - or colour pictures of the animals too - but as the author says, the book goes beyond the normal "field guides" which aim to help with animal identification.

If you want to know things like how the lives of a dikdik & a duiker differ (but you could tell them apart), this is the book for you!

If you enjoy learning specific information about mammals, this book is for you. It is a bit technical which makes it more interesting. I used this book when on Safari and it added tremendously to my enjoyment.

I just returned from a three-week trip to Botswana and plan to write a book that takes place there. I ordered this book because (a) I saw how good it was while I was there, and (b) mainly because it's what my native guide used in Botswana. I can't imagine a much better endorsement than that.

Taking pictures of the Big 5 is great fun on a safari. However, too many safari-goers simply take pictures without understanding the animals they're observing. A lot of guidebooks give you information on how to identify a species, but don't really tell you much about the animals themselves (and unfortunately most guides and drivers aren't much help either). Richard Estes' The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates is a great remedy to this. Estes treats the major African mammals with the detail of a graduate biology textbook, explaining their evolutionary history, diet, and behavior. Each chapter follows a set, easy-to-follow pattern with key information. They also include a pictorial guide to each animal's behaviors (with images of how, for example, hyenas behave when they're submissive).

While other guidebooks might cover the information on elephants and giraffes, Estes' passion is antelopes and it shows in this book. Many other guidebooks and safari guides consider antelopes the "junk" game animals, but Estes shows that they are a fascinating and successful group of animals. I learned to appreciate Thompsons Gazelles and Oryx a whole lot more after reading this book. In fact, the section on antelopes alone is worth the price of the book.

Estes' book is heavy - as befitting a book so packed with information - so you should probably take a smaller, more traditional wildlife checklist on your safari (I recommend Wildlife of East Africa (Princeton Illustrated Checklists)), which I used in Uganda and Kenya). However, Estes' book is necessary if you want to go beyond simply a photography expedition and actually learn about African mammals.

Note: the updated edition The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates is actually pretty thoroughly revised and is worth getting, even if you own this older edition.

I can't believe anyone could write this book. It has the most complete, concise explanation of animal behaviour (ALL the animals) you could imagine. Whatever you see a animal doing this tome(it's portable, tho) will have visual symbols that explain what's happening and if the info were done in a full text format this book would be 2000 pages. I've taken my copy to East Africa at least half a dozen times. Don't leave home without it.

I used this book while on a course in Kenya and thought it was great. It describes various mammalian behaviors often seen in the field using plain language. Consequently, even the novice can easily identify a multitude of behavioral patterns. I am purchasing it now so that I can use it to teach volunteers working at a field site in Kenya

I believe that this book is likely the same as "The Safari Companion" [same author], a revised edition being published in 1999. A very useful book for those who want to learn about what they're looking at, not merely identifing it. "What signifies the knowing of names, if you know not the nature of things." - Benjamin Franklin

this book really adds to the safari experience. once you've seen a lot of animals, and some of the thrill of just seeing them is gone, this book deepens your understanding and increases your appreciation of the animals you're watching. if you do a lot of safaris, a must-have.

This Behaviour Guide provides extensive interesting information without becoming too technical. It is easy to read and set out in a logical way. A really handy handbook that enhances the viewing of animal behaviour.