The Secret Elephants: The Rediscovery of the World's Most Southerly Elephants

Please visit the author's website at www.garethpatterson.com."The elephants of South Africa's Knysna forest have long been the subject of mystery and conjecture. Over the years, they have taken on an almost mythical quality, with many doubting whether they existed at all. In 1994, the local forestry department claimed there was only one surviving Knysna elephant, the seldom seen female known as The Matriarch. Then in 2000, a forest guard encountered and photographed a young bull. The question arose: Who was its mother? And indeed, who was its father? For seven years, Gareth Patterson covered thousands of kilometres on foot, following ancient elephant paths through dense forest and surrounding mountains. He found abundant signs that, far from dying out, the Knysna elephants are quietly holding their own. Patterson's work supported evidence that the Knysna forest and its surroundings are home to a small herd of young elephants. The Secret Elephants is the story of these remarkable animals that fought their way back from the brink of extinction."