Background
Moss, Cynthia was born on July 24, 1940 in Ossining, New York, United States. Daughter of Julian B. and Lillian (Drion) Moss.
(From Danny Yee: Cynthia Moss is best known for her work o...)
From Danny Yee: Cynthia Moss is best known for her work on African elephants, but in Portraits in the Wild she surveys the large mammals of East Africa more broadly. There are chapters on the elephant, the giraffe, the black rhinoceros, zebras, antelopes (dikdik, gerenuk, impala, Uganda kob, wildebeest and eland), baboons, big cats (lion, cheetah and leopard) and the spotted hyena. Moss' focus is on behaviour and social structure, especially mating systems and breeding. The radically different mating and territorial systems of antelope species, for example, are linked to their ecological niches. There's also some information about conservation, poaching, and human attitudes to different species: baboons as "born criminals", for examples, or the changing sentiment towards lions. Moss also includes a bit about the researchers who carried out the studies she summarises, and the observational methodologies involved. There's almost no quantitative data in Portraits, let alone any formal life-cycle theory or ecology - there's not a single diagram, table or figure. (There is, however, a nice if grainy selection of black and white halftones.) The presentation is discursive and approachable, with something of the feel of a wildlife documentary. Portraits in the Wild was first written in 1975 and revised in 1982, so it is based on research from the 60s and 70s (for some species the first serious studies of behaviour) and is obviously dated. No more recent treatment of this kind exists, however, so it's still useful background reading for visitors to Africa. (A better choice for field use would be a book like Richard Estes' The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals, which has a similar focus on behaviour and social structure but covers many more species and is structured as a guide.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395207223/?tag=2022091-20
( Cynthia Moss has studied the elephants in Kenya's Ambos...)
Cynthia Moss has studied the elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park for over twenty-seven years. Her long-term research has revealed much of what we now know about these complex and intelligent animals. Here she chronicles the lives of the members of the T families led by matriarchs Teresia, Slit Ear, Torn Ear, Tania, and Tuskless. With a new afterword catching up on the families and covering current conservation issues, Moss's story will continue to fascinate animal lovers. "One is soon swept away by this 'Babar' for adults. By the end, one even begins to feel an aversion for people. One wants to curse human civilization and cry out, 'Now God stand up for the elephants!'"—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times "Moss speaks to the general reader, with charm as well as scientific authority. . . . An elegantly written and ingeniously structured account." —Raymond Sokolov, Wall Street Journal "Moss tells the story in a style so conversational . . . that I felt like a privileged visitor riding beside her in her rickety Land-Rover as she showed me around the park." —Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, New York Times Book Review "A prose-poem celebrating a species from which we could learn some moral as well as zoological lessons." —Chicago Tribune
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226542378/?tag=2022091-20
(Handicapped by crooked front legs, Ely the little elephan...)
Handicapped by crooked front legs, Ely the little elephant faces a grim outlook but is supported by his devoted mother and sister, who help him to adjust and eventually walk on his own, in an inspiring true story enhanced by full-color photographs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0689800312/?tag=2022091-20
(A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in t...)
A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in the lives of one elephant family in Kenya's Amboseli National Park presents photographs and a text that offer insights into every aspect of the elephants' lives. TV tie-in. 35,000 first printing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688121039/?tag=2022091-20
(A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in t...)
A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in the lives of one elephant family in Kenya's Amboseli National Park presents photographs and a text that offer insights into every aspect of the elephants' lives. TV tie-in. 35,000 first printing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688135137/?tag=2022091-20
Moss, Cynthia was born on July 24, 1940 in Ossining, New York, United States. Daughter of Julian B. and Lillian (Drion) Moss.
She is director of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya, where she has studied the same population of elephants for over 40 years, and is Program Director and Trustee for the Amboseli Trust for Elephants ( Association of Technical Employees). Moss graduated at Smith College in Massachusetts in 1962, majoring in philosophy.
Reporter, researcher, Newsweek, New York City, 1964-1968; research assistant elephant behavior and ecology, Lake Manyara, Tanzania, 1968; assistant to veterinary researchers, Nairobi, Kenya, 1969; research assistant, Athi Plains, Kenya, 1970; research assistant, Tsavo National Park, Kenya, 1970; freelance journalist, 1970-1971; editor, Wildlife News, Washington, since 1971; co-director research project, Amboseli (Kenya) Elephant Research Project, since 1972. Senior associate African Wildlife Foundation. Research fellow Animal Research and Consercation Center, New York Zoological Society.
(Handicapped by crooked front legs, Ely the little elephan...)
(A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in t...)
(A photographic and textual record of eighteen months in t...)
(From Danny Yee: Cynthia Moss is best known for her work o...)
( Cynthia Moss has studied the elephants in Kenya's Ambos...)
(Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include compa...)
Member East African Natural History Society.