A Wild Life: Adventures of an Accidental Conservationist in Africa

by Dick Pitman (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.29

  This British ex-patriot moved to Zimbabwe in 1977, when it was still called Rhodesia. Pitman stumbled into saving wild animals almost by mistake. But his sense of humor, and love of animals, made him a perfect candidate for this fraught and sometimes frustrating mission. His tales from the bush and passion for wildlife and conservation are filled with humor and heartbreak-saving elephants in Matusadona National Park, tracking black rhinos, saving cheetahs, and, perhaps most dangerous, introducing foreign tourists to African wildlife. This is a witty and hope-filled true story from a talented writer who is frequently in the news discussing the challenges of Zimbabwe's natural future.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $4.91

  'An endless carpet of leafless mopane woodlands unrolled beneath us as we flew. Then the Zambezi came into view: a broad ribbon of wind-ruffled water, over a mile wide. The great river divided and reunited as it flowed past long, grassy islands speckled with herds of buffalo, impala, and elephants in ones and twos...' Tales from the bush mingle with poignant descriptions of the African landscape in this memoir of a British man who emigrated to Rhodesia in 1977 with a passion for wildlife and wilderness. As the Zambezi Valley was threatened by development, Pitman began working among the elephants in Matusadona National Park, relocating cheetahs, tracking black rhinos, and introducing tourists to the wilds of southern Africa. Inspired by the splendours and drama of wild Africa, A Wild Life is a light-hearted account of a quarter-century in conservation. Written with wit and charisma, it gives intelligent insights into a perennially important subject - saving the animals of Africa.