Fabulous reads – Wildlife trackers bare all for positive change
Book overview - Changing a Leopard's Spots by Alex van den Heever with Renias Mhlongo.
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Changing a Leopard’s Spots, Alex van den Heever with Renias Mhlongo, Pan Macmillan, ISBN: 9781 7701 06987
World-renowned wildlife trackers, Alex van den Heever and Renias Mhlongo have spent more than two decades working together tracking leopards and lions at Londolozi, jaguars in South America and grizzly bears in the United States.In Changing a Leopard’s Spots, Alex shares stories from his life with Renias, including the successes, failures, dramas, laughter, disappointments and highlights.
As the duo experience numerous adventures together, Alex and Renias learn to trust and rely on one another in order to stay alive. This is meant in quite a literal sense as they sometimes work in extremely dangerous environments, but they also develop a deep and meaningful relationship.
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By challenging each other and learning from one another, they break down social, cultural, racial and personal boundaries and obstacles that often divide South Africans and, in the process, the two men forge an unbreakable bond.
van den Heever is the general manager of the Tracker Academy, a non-government organisation that trains people in the traditional skills of tracking. He is also director and shareholder of EcoTraining, the largest privately owned guide training school in Africa.
Mhlongo has spent 37 years working as a guide, tracker and trainer and has accumulated thousands of hours tracking big game on foot at Londolozi Game Reserve and in wildlife areas around the world. Alex and Renias conduct their motivational presentation, ‘The Power of Relationships’, across Africa and overseas.
They are co-authors, together with Karel Benadie, of the bestselling animal tracking field guide, Tracker Manual.
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