The Eye of the Elephant
1992 book by Delia Owens and Mark Owens
The Eye of the Elephant: An Epic Adventure in the African Wilderness is a non-fiction book written by Delia Owens and Mark Owens, first published in 1992. It is a sequel to the Owens' 1984 book Cry of the Kalahari, beginning with their move from Botswana to Zambia.
Plot summary
The Eye of the Elephant follows Delia and Mark Owens as they embark on a mission to protect wildlife and preserve natural habitats in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. The couple establishes a wildlife reserve and works to combat the poaching of endangered species, particularly elephants.
Reception
The New York Times called the book "not merely brazenly but maladroitly ideological" in its promotion of the Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation and its paternalistic attitude toward anti-poaching efforts. Kirkus Reviews concludes that the book's narrative presents "[a]nother seemingly clear-cut victory for the tireless defenders of wildlife, who tell a lively tale tinged with that smugness typical of Western conservationists who expect the impossible of poor Africa." The anti-poaching non-profit Poaching Facts described the book as "suspenseful and designed to impress upon the reader the struggles ...
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Eye of the Elephant” is 1992 book by Delia Owens and Mark Owens. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Elephant, book and Delia, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1992 book by Delia Owens and Mark Owens” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q125856076. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1992 and 1984.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Eye of the Elephant”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Eye of the Elephant primary sources, The Eye of the Elephant archive and Elephant research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Eye of the Elephant”?
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- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Eye of the Elephant” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.