"My love is Africa, my passion the lion. I fear for Africa … and I fear that the lion will disappear in the overwhelming changes that are engulfing the continent.”
Gareth Patterson’s concern for the future of the lion and the shrinking African wilderness compelled him to embark on a remarkable 25,000-kilometre journey through Southern and Eastern Africa to investigate the status of the king of the beasts in a rapidly changing continent. He finds how vulnerable this magnificent animal has been to man’s depredations.
The future holds some hope: there are places where man himself has succeeded in reversing the product of his destructiveness, where wilderness has been reclaimed, where the lion has come back. But there is no time to waste.
Where the Lion Walked sets out the author’s strong conviction about the value of the wilderness and creates awareness of the richness of Africa’s natural heritage and the immense benefits it holds for all of us.
Gareth Patterson was presented with the Nick Steele Memorial Award for the Environmentalist of the Year at the SAB Environmental Media awards 2016.
Praise for Gareth Patterson:
‘Patterson soldiers on, triumphing over adversities that would have broken lesser men…like Adamson before him, he cannot bear to think of a lion that is not free.’ The Times
'Both (Adamson and Patterson) respected the lion's character, and its place in nature's hierarchy. Both wished to share their lives with this great predator. Both have had their wishes fulfilled...their extraordinary rapport with lions established a spiritual bond that continues to this day.' Virginia McKenna, award-winning actress and co-founder of the Born Free Foundation.
'Moments later Rafiki appeared, a full-grown lioness in her prime. I could hear the thud of her feet as she ran straight at Gareth, then rose on her hind legs to place her huge paws over his shoulders, while he in turn hugged her...and the big lioness grunted with pleasure at seeing her friend again.
'Twelve years ago I had watched George Adamson being greeted in exactly the same way when he introduced me to his wild pride at Kora (in Kenya). It was a sight I had never expected to see again; yet here I was in Botswana, watching the man who had so modestly assumed the Adamson mantle.' Brian Jackman, award-winning author of The Marsh Lions and Roaring at the Dawn.
Find out more about Gareth Patterson at his website: www.garethpatterson.com
Gareth Patterson’s concern for the future of the lion and the shrinking African wilderness compelled him to embark on a remarkable 25,000-kilometre journey through Southern and Eastern Africa to investigate the status of the king of the beasts in a rapidly changing continent. He finds how vulnerable this magnificent animal has been to man’s depredations.
The future holds some hope: there are places where man himself has succeeded in reversing the product of his destructiveness, where wilderness has been reclaimed, where the lion has come back. But there is no time to waste.
Where the Lion Walked sets out the author’s strong conviction about the value of the wilderness and creates awareness of the richness of Africa’s natural heritage and the immense benefits it holds for all of us.
Gareth Patterson was presented with the Nick Steele Memorial Award for the Environmentalist of the Year at the SAB Environmental Media awards 2016.
Praise for Gareth Patterson:
‘Patterson soldiers on, triumphing over adversities that would have broken lesser men…like Adamson before him, he cannot bear to think of a lion that is not free.’ The Times
'Both (Adamson and Patterson) respected the lion's character, and its place in nature's hierarchy. Both wished to share their lives with this great predator. Both have had their wishes fulfilled...their extraordinary rapport with lions established a spiritual bond that continues to this day.' Virginia McKenna, award-winning actress and co-founder of the Born Free Foundation.
'Moments later Rafiki appeared, a full-grown lioness in her prime. I could hear the thud of her feet as she ran straight at Gareth, then rose on her hind legs to place her huge paws over his shoulders, while he in turn hugged her...and the big lioness grunted with pleasure at seeing her friend again.
'Twelve years ago I had watched George Adamson being greeted in exactly the same way when he introduced me to his wild pride at Kora (in Kenya). It was a sight I had never expected to see again; yet here I was in Botswana, watching the man who had so modestly assumed the Adamson mantle.' Brian Jackman, award-winning author of The Marsh Lions and Roaring at the Dawn.
Find out more about Gareth Patterson at his website: www.garethpatterson.com
