African Wildlife & Environment Issue 85

GOOD READS

Book reviews by Dr John Ledger GOOD READS

Everything Leaves aTrace

Liebenberg, Louis (2023). Pocket Guide. Tracks & Tracking in Southern Africa . Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 11 x 18 cm, 144 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs, artwork and maps. ISBN 978 1-77584-872-1. RRP: R230. Louis Liebenberg was fascinated by the concept of ‘tracking’ his little friends’

sun until the animal collapsed and could easily be speared by the indefatigable runners/hunters/ gatherers. In 1990 he published The Art of Tracking: The Origin of Science (David Philip), that brought international acclaim to the university drop out who is now an Associate in the Department of Human Evolution and Biology at Harvard University.Those who enjoy the crime thrillers by Deon Meyer will know that he quotes extensively from Liebenberg’s book in his gripping 2011 novel called Trackers . Louis realised that trackers and their unique art were headed for extinction, but he changed the course of history with the invention of his Cyber Tracker, a modern hand-held device like a smartphone with interactive animal icons on the screen, and an integrated GPS that records the time and location of the field observations. The illiterate bushmen quickly learned to use the device, which is now used for research projects internationally and earned Louis a Rolex Laureate Award for Enterprise in 1998. You can find more at www.cybertracker.org. Oh…the book? A compact (pocket!) volume packed with photos, maps and Liebenberg’s own drawings of the tracks and signs of more than 125 South African creatures, mainly mammals, but also reptiles, frogs, birds and insects. The photographs are excellent. The detailed introduction provides basic guidelines for the reader to learn the art of tracking. This very useful little book will be an asset to all our readers who walk in nature areas and encounter those intriguing signs left in the dust and the mud by passing critters. My own ramblings in the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve have always held the hope of finding evidence of otters along the banks of the Bloubosspruit, but so far I have only found tracks of the Water Mongoose in the mud, clearly identifiable by the sketches of its unmistakeable footprints in this excellent publication.When I do find the spoor of that elusive otter one day, this book will confirm its identity. Highly recommended!

footprints in the sand while playing ‘hide and seek’ as a small child by the seaside. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town but gave up his courses in Physics and Maths to fix up an old Land Cruiser, head for the Kalahari and to live with the Bushmen, from whom he learned the art of tracking. He participated in their various hunts, which included running down a Kudu bull to exhaustion over many hours in the hot Kalahari

Kudu bull (Photograph: John Wesson)

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