The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness [Paperback]

Mark James Owens (Author), Cordelia Dykes Owens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 1993

Expelled from Botswana for writing Cry of the Kalahari, the Owenses set off across Africa. They settled in Zambia, where they soon found their peace shattered by the gunfire of elephant poachers. This is the story of the couple's battle to save the elephants and their own lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Each year from 1973 to 1985, an estimated 1000 elephants were slaughtered in Zambia's Luangwa Valley for their ivory tusks, skin, tails and feet; in 1991, only 12 were killed in this fashion. No little credit for saving the elephants is due to the Owenses (Cry of the Kalahari), biologists who set out to research animal behavior but stayed to persuade villagers that rather than shooting elephants, they could gain more in food, jobs and money by letting the animals live and attracting tourists to see them. The Owenses not only taught the natives crafts and trades, but also organized international support to secure a temporary ban on the sale of elephant body parts. Conscious of the dangers of substituting one evil for another, the Owenses lobby for walking safaris rather than the intrusive, destructive motorized tours popular elsewhere in Africa. Their personal story is an adventure filled with the color and scent of wild Africa, with recreations of their arduous treks through wilderness, with escapes from attempts on their lives by disgruntled Africans, and with engrossing descriptions of the lives and habits of animals. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

MARK and DELIA OWENS are the authors of Cry of the Kalahari, an international bestseller and winner of the Burroughs Medal, and The Eye of the Elephant.

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395680905
• ISBN-13: 978-0395680902
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Travel > Africa > Mozambique
  • #2 in Books > Travel > Africa > Zambia
  • #64 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read all year, April 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness (Paperback)

A second story of the Owens's exceptional experiences in the wildlife habitats of Africa.(The first book is Cry of the Kalahari.) The Eye of the Elephant is a warm and personal story of saving the endangered elephants of Zambia. The reader becomes as anxious for the survival of the Owens's as for the survival of the elephants, and the people of Africa. Eye opening to the problems encountered in doing something so nobel and obviously necessary.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting, disturbing story of war with poachers, May 31, 2005

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness (Hardcover)

Wildlife researchers and conservationists Delia and Mark Owens have spent much of their lives since 1974 in the African bush, first in the Kalahari Desert from which came their best seller "Cry of the Kalahari" and then in the North Luangwa Valley in Zambia, the setting of this 1992 book.

The Owens' passion leads them to risk their lives routinely. In searching for a suitable camp in North Luangwa they set out in an ancient truck with no radio and inadequate gear. After a grueling trek that would have sent sane mortals packing for home they separate so Mark can fly his Cessna to a site that "would make Cessna's insurance company shudder" while Delia makes the two-day trip alone with the old truck and a trailer over trackless hilly, bushy, gully-filled flood-plain terrain. Tracking animals they are constantly walking smack into a startled lion or buffalo or cornered elephant.

But the real danger comes from people. "The Eye of the Elephant," while filled with wildlife anecdotes and tidbits of information about elephants and lions, is really about the poaching war the Owens conducted on behalf of the besieged North Luangwa elephants.

The poachers are villagers, many armed with AK47s, backed by the local government and assisted by the corrupt and underequipped local game guards. The Owens' weapons are education, cottage industry projects financed by the Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation and the Cessna.

The battle starts genially with children exclaiming over magazine pictures and their parents joining sewing circles and carpentry workshops. But it quickly escalates until Mark drives Delia from him with his obsession for highly dangerous and only modestly effective night flights, and the poachers organize an assassination squad to rid themselves of the Owens once and for all.

The book is organized in alternating first-person chapters between Delia and Mark. The tone is brutally honest, touching when one admits to mistakes which endanger the other, disturbing when their frank discussion of anti-poaching tactics veers from the politically correct. The Owens' care more for the animals and the landscape than the people. But since the people are there, their needs must be faced. Their singlemindedness will outrage some, but their strong personalities and sheer stamina will awe almost everyone.

York County Coast Star

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Was Amazing, July 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness (Paperback)

You will immediately be drawn into their story! I was so involved reading this book that I missed my train station stop...you'll feel like you're there with them!