Louis Liebenberg Libri

All groups of land animals are presented, including frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. A special feature is also devoted to insects. Illustrated throughout with photographs of the animal together with diagnostic hand-drawings of the spoor and, in some cases, photographs of droppings and other signs to enable easy identification in the field. The accompanying text describes important features of the animal concerned and its spoor, and provides relevant information on its behaviour, habits and habitat. Where useful, a distribution map has been included with each description to show where in southern Africa the animal occurs.

- Techniques from international tracking experts applicable to any quarry and terrain - How to follow and find elk, deer, bears, cougars, lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and cape buffalo Finding and identifying tracks and sign of an animal's passing is only part of the ultimate goal for serious trackers, hunters, and outdoorspeople. They want to follow the trail to reach the animal in question. This detailed guide teaches them how. Written by a trio of master trackers, it covers what to look for to discern an animal's pathway, what information tracks and sign convey, how to move through the wilderness to get in sight of the quarry, how to avoid dangerous encounters, and more.

In a work of painstaking and wide-ranging scholarship, backed up by fieldwork among the Kalahari hunter-gatherers, Louis Liebenberg explains how the art of tracking represents a crucial step in human evolution. Liebenberg examines the principles of tracking, and the classification and interpretation of spoor under difficult conditions. He also shows how the original speculative hypotheses of early hunter-gatherers have a direct line to the propositions of modern physicists who track sub-atomic particles. In the book, the author argues that the art of tracking involves the same intellectual and creative abilities as physics and mathematics, and may therefore represent the origin of science itself. The book has been hailed as a real contribution to our understanding of the complexity involved in the process by which indigenous peoples track and hunt animals. It is insightful, detailed and well articulated.

This handy guide provides simple tools to help interpret the tracks and signs of some 105 southern African mammals, reptiles, frogs and birds. Photographs and diagnostic spoor illustrations are given for each animal, along with information on behaviour, habits and habitat, and up-to-date distribution maps show where the animals occur.