In December 1991, my boyfriend and I decided to spend a year traveling in Africa, in between degrees. But after being seduced by Africa, we never left. And from there, my boyfriend became husband, and elephants became the subject of my scientific career. While working for the Namibian government in the Caprivi region of Namibia in the early 1990s, I was struck by the realities of the elephant-human interface and the contrast between dedicated conservation staff trying to protect elephants and their habitat on the one hand, and farmers having to live with elephants eating their crops on the other. I had since wanted to write a fictional account that illustrated the contrasts of modern Africa in the face of elephants on the brink of extinction.
Over the intervening years, although elephant conservation efforts have improved in some places across Africa, in others, the situation for elephants is getting worse, given recent political instabilities in North Africa, a rise in crime syndicates on the continent, and the increase in the demand for ivory in China, all contributing to a rise in the price of ivory and a staggering increase in elephant poaching in some countries. Having written five nonfiction books about elephants, I revisited the idea of fiction as another approach to drawing attention to them and their plight.
Ivory Ghosts is a fictional account of people, places, politics, events, and situations that represent the urgency of the elephant crisis in Africa. I set this story in the Caprivi (now called Zambezi) region of Namibia because it is near and dear to my heart and allowed me to evoke a strong sense of place.