An Elephant In My Kitchen by Francoise Malby-Anthony

This is an incredible sequel to The Elephant Whisperer which I read less than a year ago and loved. Written by the widow of Lawrence Anthony it expands and updates on the unimaginable reality of running an animal reserve dedicated to providing a wild habitat for endangered African animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippos, protecting them from relentless poaching, and more recently providing an orphanage for young animals whose mothers have often been brutally slaughtered for their horns. Delightful descriptions of the escapades of the young rescues are interspersed with frank details about the horrific daily struggle to keep these marvelous creatures safe from greedy, amoral poachers who will kill animals and their human protectors without compunction. It trumpets the devotion and commitment of the many wonderful people who staff the reserve, those who provide funds for its operation, and the growing effort to educate young Africans about the need to protect the marvelous creatures that inhabit their beautiful continent. I hope this book and its predecessor are widely read because they make it clear that wild animals not only deserve to exist, but also just how diminished our Earth will be if they are destroyed. This remarkable narrative reveals the majesty of wild creatures that display feelings and intelligence that we humans have too often denied they could possibly have, mostly I think to enable us to use and abuse them rather than embrace them as fellow travelers on our singular planet.