The Valley of Tantalika (paperback )

THE VALLEY OF TANTALIKA
An African Wildlife Story

Richard Rayner

ISBN: 0 86920 216 2

The damming of the mighty Zambezi . the creation of the 280-kilometre-long Lake Kariba... Operation Noah which rescued thousands of creatures from the rising floodwaters...

is an epic event roundly engraved in the annals of great human achievement.

But what of the flora and fauna of the Valley, the ecology and the reactions of the living creatures themselves to this intrusion and desecration of their age-old habitat? What fears gripped them in the face of this man-made cataclysm? To who =mwere they to turn for help?

Viewing the scene through the eyes of the displaced creatures, Richard Rayner has created a delightful fantasy around a particular herd of impala, the Pambuka, and Tantalika, a lovable, amusing, but somewhat irresponsible young otter. Their unique story, presented in beautiful prose and illustrated with charming drawings by Eleanora Alexander, tells with tenderness and compassionate under- standing their bewildering loss of old grazing grounds, the search for a new home, the menace of the rising waters, their battle for survival, and the inexplicable behaviour of humans.As Dr Sue Hart, a well-known conservationist. writes in the foreword to Tantalika: "This enchanting, absorbing book is for anyone, anywhere, in and out of Africa. It will give you pause to wonder at the similarity between the Valley dwellers and your-self: your griefs and joys, your doubts, your longing for a new era in a better world devoid of cruelty and strife..."

Paperback, very good condition