The Last Elephants, by Don Pinnock and Colin Bell

The Last Elephants, by Don Pinnock and Colin Bell. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Struik Nature. Cape Town, South Africa 2019. ISBN 9781775846840 / ISBN 978-1-77-584684-0

The Last Elephants by Don Pinnock and Colin Bell is a narrative and photographic backup to the Africa-wide Great Elephant Census of 2016.

Is the name of this book prophetic? We hope not, but the signs are worrying so it's worth pondering. In Africa there's one elephant for every 20 000 people; fewer than 450 000 according to the Great Elephant Census of 2016, and well down from the 3 to 5 million just 100 years ago. And while the human population is rapidly increasing, elephant numbers are plummeting. Human-elephant conflict and poaching seem inevitable and we know who wins those contests. This book began as an idea over a cup of coffee in Cape Town. The results of the 2016 Elephants Without Borders census of savanna elephants - coordinated by Mike Chase and Kelly Landen - had just been made public. It was a shock. On average, three savanna elephants were being killed every hour somewhere in Africa. Add in their forest cousins and that number was an elephant being shot every 15 minutes. Both of us know Africa well, have many contacts throughout the continent and love elephants. Could we do another kind of census - narrative and photographic - enlisting people on the ground who deal with elephant issues every day? Self-funding the book, we couldn't afford to pay them. Would they be prepared to donate their time, words and images? We composed an email, listed people across the continent we knew to be involved with elephants, pressed send and waited. The response was heart-warming and humbling. Everyone had seen the census results and, like us, was very worried. Chapters poured in from an extraordinary range of people: scientists, poets, game guards, activists, academics, lodge owners and NGO workers. Top wildlife photographers sent portfolios with the message: Take your pick. The project rapidly expanded. Each chapter was a gem so we couldn't refuse any. The photographs were breathtaking and how could we not display them large - and on good recycled paper, with a top designer and first-class printer? We swallowed hard and went for the best of everything. The elephants deserve it. The Last Elephants by Don Pinnock and Colin Bell is a tribute to the many people who work for the welfare of elephants, especially those who risk their lives for wildlife each day: field rangers and the anti-poaching teams, in particular. It is an acknowledgement, also, of the many communities around Africa that have elected to work with elephants and not against them. The book is also a tribute to such researchers as Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton, Joyce Poole, Cynthia Moss, Daphne Sheldrick, Paula Kahumbu, Mike Chase, Kelly Landen, Michelle Henley, Sharon Pincott and many others - the Jane Goodalls and Diane Fosseys of the elephant world who have dedicated their lives to these great, graceful and engaging animals. We hope this book will help to fulfil two wishes. The first is that the Congress of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) uplists all elephants in all countries to Appendix I, forbidding trade of elephants or elephant parts across international borders. A second wish is that those countries that receive and use legal and poached ivory - primarily China, Vietnam, Laos and Japan - seriously and strenuously ban its trade and use, both within their borders and on their internet platforms. We're losing elephants fast. They could become extinct. In many countries where they once roamed, particularly in West Africa, they already are. [...]

Don Pinnock & Colin Bell

This is an excerpt from The Last Elephants, by Don Pinnock and Colin Bell.

Title: The Last Elephants
Authors: Don Pinnock; Colin Bell
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Struik Nature
Cape Town, South Africa 2019
ISBN 9781775846840 / ISBN 978-1-77-584684-0
Softcover, 22 x 26 cm, 487 pages, throughout colour photographs