Review: Wildlife of Southern Africa, edited by Vincent Carruthers

I cannot praise this book enough. If you are living in Southern Africa (or visiting, or even thinking of visiting) you need a copy of this book. It is unbelievably detailed, and contains literally all the information you could hope for, thoughtfully divided into lower invertebrates, spiders and arachnids, insects, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals, grasses, flowers and trees. Each section is compiled by an expert in that field, and has gorgeous illustrations of each entry. In addition, the sections begin with a short introduction, as well as a generic diagram of the topic, labelled appropriately. Also, they are colour-coded. Truly. So easy to find the right flower!

This book is field guide meets text book with a handful of cool. I may have an advantage because I live on a farm, but I have already identified a spider (a real cutie, the velvet spider, who technically, according to this book, does not belong in this geography) as well as a tortoise we passed in the field, three snakes (none of them will kill me, the book says) and many flowers and grasses. This book is amazing. I cannot find anything to fault in it, except perhaps that I find myself annoyed at living in the Western Cape because all the butterflies I want to find are in Namibia and Zimbabwe, so thanks, Carruthers for making me long to be in Zimbabwe.

As an aside, credit must be given to the illustrator because the drawings are phenomenal. They are incredibly detailed and life-like, and so much better than a photograph!This book would also appeal to any audience; nature lovers such as myself, students, as well as anyone wanting a reason to go outside and hunt butterflies (or snakes, or spiders – whatever floats your boat). I want to get copies for my entire family immediately!

Wildlife of Southern Africa, edited by Vincent Carruthers, is published by Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Source: Review: Wildlife of Southern Africa, edited by Vincent Carruthers