First published 2012
Daphne Sheldrick opens her memoir in the wilds of Kenya, where her Scottish family has lived since the 1820s. She becomes the first person to successfully hand rear newborn elephants, developing the precise milk formulas and care techniques that save countless orphaned animals. Her menagerie includes Bushy the liquid-eyed antelope, Rickey-Tickey-Tavey the dwarf mongoose, Gregory Peck the buffalo weaver bird, Huppety the mischievous zebra, and Eleanor the elephant, her companion for over forty years. At the heart of her story stands her marriage to David Sheldrick, the celebrated Tsavo Park warden. Their passionate partnership drives their conservation work until David's unexpected early death devastates Daphne. His loss transforms her grief into purpose as she establishes the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans' Nursery in Nairobi National Park. The memoir reveals how love and loss shaped her mission to save Kenya's wildlife while fighting the poaching that threatens their survival.
Genres: animals, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir, conservation, africa
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Kenya, Nairobi National Park, Tsavo Park
Period: 1820s, 20th-century
400 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Books Ltd