Wild Edens: Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series) [Hardcover]

Joseph James Shomon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Despite a long history of political upheaval, the continent of Africa remains a magnetic destination for travelers. Early explorers wrote exciting accounts of the culture and wildlife, and it is these same treasures, particularly the wildlife, that still attract thousands of visitors each year. Africa has more parks, reserves, and sanctuaries than any other continent, and despite extreme poverty and tremendous population burdens, many countries are committed to wildlife conservation and protection. Shomon, the director of American Conservation Planning Associates, has written a guided tour of Africa that blends natural history with travel and personal experience. His aim is to arouse interest and support from readers, travelers, photographers, scientists, researchers, and conservationists to further safeguard Africa's wildlifeAa formidable task. Anyone planning a trip to the game parks of Africa should enjoy Shomon's book. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic institutions.AEdell Marie Schaefer, Brookfield P.L., WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A moving tribute to the major game parks of Africa, Wild Edens is also a good introduction to the wonders of one of the last great wildlife spectacles on the planet. The author, a wildlife conservationist, takes the reader on a journey through the parks of East and South Africa. Starting with Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest on the continent, Shomon visits such well-known areas as Amboseli (Kenya), the Serengeti (Tanzania), the Okavango (Botswana), and Kruger (South Africa). Filled with personal anecdotes from his many trips to the preserves, the author's descriptions of the area and what animals the visitor can expect to see have an immediacy that is appealing. The author's black-and-white photographs (plus two sections of color photos), along with line drawings of the larger animals opening each chapter, further enhance the book's travelogue quality. Appendixes cover the life of David Livingstone, a list of parks and preserves, and guidelines for a safari. The author's conservation ethic permeates the text, reminding us that we'll only protect what we care about. Nancy Bent

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890968012
• ISBN-13: 978-0890968017
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,968,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different book on wild life...., October 22, 1999

By 

José Basto ([e-mail]) (Coimbra, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Edens: Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series) (Hardcover)

Wild Edens. Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife, by Joseph James Shomon

It was our pleasant experience to read an extraordinary book! Although lacking in graphics, we do consider this one much richer in content than the more familiar, photo-laden publications covering this subject.

Wild Edens has a very well written, interesting and varied text. The author combines skill with expert knowledge in different areas, i.e., ecology, geography, history and zoology, giving the reader a complete picture of these most important African National Parks. In Appendix 1, a short essay about David Livingstone and his pioneering disclosure of central Africa, is well worth reading.

Appendix 2, with its complete list of the parks, gives very useful information to readers planning to be visitors.

An outstanding description of the killing of a buffalo by a pack of hyenas in Aberdares Park is most impressive (Chapter 3). The reader feels strong sensations while witnessing the "cruelty" of the natural world and the tense relations between hunters and the hunted, in nature's domain.

Because this is a book of major interest and value, we find it unusual to discover a gross mistake...The legend of the colour photograph depicting a zebra and two baboons at Jane Goodall's camp near Lake Tanganika (see colour photographs next to pg. 80, with a similar photo on the back cover). It reads: "Zebra and chimpanzees"... It is clear that the photographed monkeys are not chimps (Pan Troglodites), but baboons (Papio Cynocephalus). Zebras and baboons have the same habitat, ` savanna', while, typically, chimpanzees live in a forest. It would be rare for the two breeds, zebra and chimp, to meet in the wild ... their habitats being so positively different. How an error such as this could have been overlooked by such a competent author is disconcerting. However, this oversight certainly does not, in any other way, jeopardize the special value of a "different" book on wild life.

José Xavier de Basto Coimbra, Portugal with Jacqueline Martin Texas, USA

2.0 out of 5 stars Error-prone guide to great game parks, November 15, 2008

By 

Vinnedge M. Lawrence "vlawrence5" (West Baldwin, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Edens: Africa's Premier Game Parks and Their Wildlife (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series) (Hardcover)

If Joseph James Shomon's dissertation contained even a small fraction of the number of errors that appear in his "Wild Edens" he would never have received his doctoral degree. The mistaken designation of baboons as "chimpanzees" in a photo spread between pages 80 & 81 is typical, rather than exceptional, of the inaccuracies plaguing this book. Rife with misspellings, its tenor suggests that impressions orally conveyed by safari drivers were incorporated without corroboration. Shomon's account of the death of Michael Grzimek that concludes Chapter 6 confuses Michael with his father, Bernhard, misspells the latter's name, and incorrectly relates the site of the fatal plane crash. For the record, Bernhard Grzimek died watching a circus performance on 13 March 1987, more than 28 years after his son's tragic death. I would not accord the book even a two-star rating were it not for Shomon's admirable rationale for writing it, as explained in the Prologue, and his caution in the chapter on South Africa that safari vehicles with roof hatches are not permitted in Kruger National Park, an inexplicable prohibition that precludes South Africa as a destination for reasonably priced safaris. Had "Wild Edens" been carefully reviewed and edited prior to publication, it may have been a much finer work.