Soul of the elephant

Gr 6 Up-Dereck and Beverly Joubert are filmmaking conservationists who have lived for more than 30 years in Botswana. There they discovered the skulls of two bull elephants with ivory tusks intact, which meant they were not killed for their ivory, but since they were not that old, it's a bit of a mystery why both died in the same place at the same time. The Jouberts spent two years traveling where these two elephants lived to learn about their lives. They filmed elephants mating, giving birth, migrating, eating, fighting, and, most amazingly, stopping by elephant bones and closely exploring them with their trunks for "an elephant wake," as it's described here. From observing herds so closely for so long, the couple came to think that the animals have emotions and souls. The cinematography is stunning; traveling by small boat, the filmmakers were able to drift very close to the herds as they drank. This allowed for extraordinary close-up shots and nerve-wracking moments when bull elephants charge the camera. The Jouberts refer to elephants as "swamp creatures" and include gorgeous footage of them rising out of the rivers or swimming below water. Using tiny, remote cameras, they captured unusual images, such as -elephants walking directly over the camera or examining the lens with their trunks. There is some fascinating information about how herds migrate and how elephants get the large amount of minerals they need every day, but overall, the program is filled with beautiful filmmaking and lightly salted with scientific content. VERDICT Purely an additional purchase, fortunately not expensive.-Geri Dori, Ridgefield Library, CT © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.