Two naturalists describe how a battle to save the elephants of Africa turned into a fight for their lives when commercial poachers heard of their work.

"In a collection of gripping stories of adventure, bestselling author Doug Peacock--loner, iconoclast, environmentalist, and contemporary of Edward Abbey--reflects on a life lived in the wild, reflecting on the question many ask in their twilight years: "Was It Worth It?" With adventures both close to home (grizzlies in Yellowstone, jaguars in the high Sonoran Desert) and farther afield (tigers in Siberia, spirit bears in British Columbia, the amazing...

Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. Then he was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand. His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family....

Boyd Varty had an unconventional upbringing. He grew up on Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, a place where man and nature strive for balance, where perils exist alongside wonders. Founded more than eighty years ago as a hunting ground, Londolozi was transformed into a nature reserve beginning in 1973 by Varty’s father and uncle, visionaries of the restoration movement. But it wasn’t just a sanctuary for the animals; it was also a place for...