The Story Of A Lion Hunt

This charming version of a well-known chant takes place on the African savanna In this beautifully illustrated rendition of a well-known children's chant, two sisters are looking not for a bear but for a lion—a lion that lives on the African savanna, where the girls go through swishy-swashy long grass, a splishy-splashy lake, and a Big Dark Cave. When they finally meet their lion, they have to run, run, run through it all again to get back home. Young readers will enjoy the playful language and beautiful paintings that reset a familiar story in a far-off part of the world.

A class of kindergarteners sets out bravely in search of a lion, going through mud, long grass, and other obstacles before the inevitable encounter with the lion forces a headlong retreat.

“Until the lion has its own storyteller, tales of the lion hunt will always glorify the hunter.” —Zimbabwean proverb In 2015, an American hunter named Walter Palmer shot and killed a lion named Cecil. The lion was one of dozens slain each year in Zimbabwe, which legally licenses the hunting of big cats. But Cecil’s death sparked unprecedented global outrage, igniting thousands of media reports about the peculiar circumstances surrounding this hunt. At the center of the controversy was Dr. Andrew Loveridge, the zoologist who had studied Cecil for eight years. In Lion Hearted, Loveridge pieces together, for the first time, the fascinating life and murky details of this beloved lion’s slaying. In the tradition of Born Free and Gorillas in the Mist, Lion Hearted chronicles Loveridge’s long acquaintance with a host of charismatic lions that his team has tracked, often from birth to death. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Loveridge learned to love predators at the knee of his father, an eminent herpetologist who stored baby crocodiles in the family bathtub. After earning his doctorate at Oxford, he seized an invitation to study the lions of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. There he meets Stumpy Tail, who, despite her name, has the dignity of the Queen of the Animal Kingdom; Dynamite, a venerable coalition leader who, muscled out by younger males, sets off on an incredible thirty-seven-day, 137-mile journey to find a new home; and Kataza, who escapes another lion’s claws, and whom Loveridge twice saves from death at the hands of humans. And, of course, there is Cecil. Dethroned in an epic battle, he forms an alliance with a former rival. He also becomes a favorite of photographers and tourists—until the fateful night when a Minnesota dentist and his hunting guide entice the trusting cat with a free meal. Loveridge unravels the complexities of lion society and the dangers the cats face both within their ranks and from the outside world. Despite their ruthless reputation, lions can form deep emotional bonds—females live in prides, a sisterhood of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts that can exhibit military precision when hunting in formation; males band together in coalitions to vie for control of territory and the female prides. They also display a wide range of emotional behavior, including mourning the loss of their mates, partners, and cubs. Africa’s lion population is estimated to have shrunk by 43 percent in the last twenty years. There may now be as few as 20,000 wild lions across the entire continent—far fewer than the number of elephants. While deploring the killing of lions for sport, Loveridge does not believe that banning trophy hunting, by itself, will halt the decline of Africa’s lion populations. He sees greater threats in human population growth, the loss of habitat to agriculture, and the illegal trade in lion body parts for use in traditional medicines. And he offers concrete proposals for averting the lion’s extinction. More than a gripping detective story, Lion Hearted is an exploration of humanity’s relationship with the natural world and an attempt to keep this majestic species from disappearing. “Lions are one of the most beloved animals on the planet,” Loveridge observes. “They are the national symbol of no fewer than fifteen countries. . . . Surely, we can think of a better way to save the wild animals we love besides killing them.”

The reader lifts flaps which reveal how one resourceful back yard explorer overcomes various obstacles during a lion hunt.

AN INTRODUCTION AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Dave Fjelline took over 10,000 photographs of mountain lions and lion sign over the course of his career tracking and capturing California mountain lions for research study. He, his friend and fellow lion hunter, Cliff Wylie, and dozens of research students and wildlife personnel would weigh, see if it is a male or female, age, and evaluate health conditions of each lion before releasing the cougars back into the wild. Throughout his tracking days, Dave captured over 300 mountain lions. And it's because of his work on the trail with his hounds and his knowledge of the big cats that today we know as much as we do about mountain lions.We want you, the reader, to take each image and examine it. Treat each photograph as a mystery, and you have to figure out what's going on, what information is in the picture, and what it tells you about the lion. On each photograph page Dave will ask you a question or two. See what all you can hunt down from the clues, or sign as we call it in the field. Don't worry, Dave will help you along as you track down the California mountain lion. Sometimes even when you know there is a mountain lion in the photograph, it's mighty tough to see them. And that's why some call them the "ghost cat". Do your best, and Dave will walk the narrow trail of the ghost cat right alongside you. And chin up, because Dave knows more about the lion than anyone else alive today, so you're safe and sound with the greatest mountain lion tracker in the world. ---Sunni Leavell, editor.

It's fun to leave the classroom and enter the imagination

The Story of a Lion Hunt with Some of the Hunters Military Adventures During the War is a memoir of Arnold Wienholt's experiences during the first World War. Wienholt was a lieutenant in the German army and fought on the Eastern and Western fronts. The book provides a firsthand account of the brutal realities of trench warfare and the psychological toll it takes on soldiers. Wienholt also recounts his adventures big game hunting in Africa, making for a fascinating contrast between the horrors of war and the thrill of the hunt. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.