Cry of the Kalahari

“A remarkable story beautifully told…Among such classics as Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man and Fossey’s Gorillas in the Mist .”— Chicago Tribune

Carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, two young Americans, Mark and Delia Owens, caught a plane to Africa, bought a thirdhand Land Rover, and drove deep into the Kalahari Desert. This engrossing survival memoir details how they lived for seven years, in an unexplored area with no roads, no people, and no source of water for thousands of square miles. In this vast wilderness the Owenses began their zoology research, a landmark study of animal behavior with creatures that had never before been exposed to humans.

An international bestseller, Cry of the Kalahari is the story of the Owenses’s life with prides of Kalahari lions, elusive brown hyenas, jackals, giraffes, and the many other creatures they came to know. It is also a gripping account of how they survived the dangers of living in one of the last and largest pristine areas on Earth, a foundational work of wildlife conservation.

This celebrated memoir of Africa details their seven-year immersion into one of earth’s last wild places.

Zoology Research: Follow the Owenses as they conduct the first-ever study of lions, brown hyenas, and other carnivores who have never known human contact. Extreme Survival: Discover how two young scientists with minimal supplies survived years of punishing drought, raging fires, and isolation in a land without roads or water. Pristine Wilderness: Journey deep into Botswana's vast and unexplored Kalahari Desert, an immense landscape where thousands of antelope migrate and predators roam free. Unprecedented Human-Animal Bonds: Witness the remarkable moments when prides of wild lions and elusive hyenas accept the Owenses into their world, leading to stunningly intimate encounters.