SAVE THE...ELEPHANTS

Meet the largest living land animal and join efforts to keep it from going extinct.

“No one wants to live in a world without elephants,” Thomson justly writes, and if her tone is more casual than urgent—considering that African forest elephants, one of the three species, are already designated “critically endangered”—still she offers an array of engaging facts about their characteristics and behavior along with alarming ones about their declining populations. Though she acknowledges that elephants are killed for their ivory tusks and often mistreated in captivity, she gives more weight to positive observations about elephant social behavior in the wild and to supportive human interactions such as the work of researcher and conservationist Cynthia Moss or the way farmers (their location unspecified) have found a clever way to coexist nonviolently with foraging elephants by stringing beehives on fences to deter the animals from eating crops. Following a section of “Fun Facts” (“Elephants can only sweat on their toes”), the author closes with suggestions for proactive readers, ranging from generic strategies for reducing global warming and raising money for conservation efforts through bake sales to refusing to buy jewelry made with “new ivory” or patronize circuses or shows that use elephants. Her list of sources is long, if all secondary material, but her list of audience-appropriate further reading comprises a paltry four titles. A few small black-and-white photos offer no more than rare, dark breaks for the simply phrased narrative. An introduction from Clinton opens the book by encouraging readers that even small actions can help the environment. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Not a front-runner in the herd, though worthy both of topic and cause.