The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward,

Allen & Unwin

Professor in Animal Behaviour at the University of Sydney, Ward takes us on a fascinating journey revealing the hierarchy and habits of animals. Long-living elephant families are built around a single female matriarch. “The rest of her family choose to follow her for the good judgement she brings to her leadership.” A pride of lions has at its heart generations of lionesses, often great-grandmothers. They adopt orphans whose mothers were killed in confrontation. The kamikaze female honey bee dies, protecting her nests, when her sting snags in its target, pulling away her entrails. “Take locusts, surging over the land in their millions, unable to slow down for a moment because the hungry ranks behind will bite their legs off if they don’t stay ahead.” Superb!