Description
Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer is a true story of an extraordinary lifelong friendship between a man and an elephant. Raised together in a small German circus town, the boy and Modoc form a remarkable bond that endures for decades and takes them across three continents.
Their journey includes a near-fatal shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, an apprenticeship with traditional mahout elephant trainers in the teak forests of India and, eventually, a career as circus stars in 1940s New York. Through danger, separation and adventure, their relationship remains at the heart of the story, which also explores Helfer’s belief in training animals through affection and trust rather than fear.
A good choice for readers who enjoy true animal stories, memoirs, adventure, circus history and extraordinary accounts of human-animal friendship.
