![]() They discovered that lions in the Kalahari, unlike lions in the Serengeti, have different methods for accepting lionesses into prides. The Owenses use the conclusion of their autobiography to relate their findings. The latter grant allows them to continue their research as long as they need. However, just in time, they win a grant from National Geographic, and later, another from the Zoological Society in Frankfurt. Before they complete their research, they run out of money. At the time, almost no fieldwork had been done on the two species specifically in the unique environment of the Kalahari. The Owenses choose to focus the bulk of their research on the behavior and eating habits of the brown hyena and desert lion. They casually leave the campsite but return several more times, though never to stalk them as prey. Luckily, Mark notices and chases them away with the truck. She wakes in the middle of the night and sees a pair of male lions entering her tent with their eyes trained on her. At first, they sleep in their truck, safe from hyenas and big cats one night, however, Delia naively decides to sleep in their makeshift tent. They learn quickly that the Valley of Deception’s remoteness means that its denizens have no learned fear of humans. Their camp, highly vulnerable to the harsh environment, attracts the attention of local wildlife, including its apex predators. ![]() The Owenses recall that they had no idea, at this point, that they would not end their project for seven years.ĭue to their low funds, the Owenses only have the most critical of provisions. After a long drive, they finally make it to Deception Valley. From there, they take a charter plane to Botswana, traveling through a local village called Maun to the Kalahari Desert in a derelict Land Rover. At that point, they sell all of their possessions for extra cash and leave for Africa. Realizing that no institutions will likely fund them, they quit school and save up money for three years. Sharing a passion for the wilderness, animal biology, and ecology, they eventually endeavor to find funding to conduct independent research in Africa. The autobiography first tells the story of Delia and Mark’s first meeting, while in college at Georgia State. The autobiography positions the Owenses as aspiring scientists in a hostile wilderness indifferent to their search for knowledge. They focus their research on the African carnivore family, particularly jackals, hyenas, and lions. ![]() They lived an eight-hour drive from the nearest human-inhabited area, surrounded by a rich and dangerous wilderness. They lived there for most of the 1970s, staking their home in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve at a remote site called Deception Valley. Written while the husband and wife were on the cusp of middle age, it looks back on their time as wildlife researchers in Botswana’s Kalahari Desert. Cry of the Kalahari is a 1984 autobiography by American zoologists Delia and Mark Owens.
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