Saving the African Elephant

When the poachers came into Zambia's Luangwa National Park, they were deadly effective and completely merciless. With their AK-47s and meat racks and tusk carriers to haul ivory off the savanna, they slaughtered 93 percent of the park's once thriving elephant population.

Then came a UN crackdown on the ivory trade — and Mark and Delia Owens. The American zoologist couple had written "Cry of the Kalahari," and been thrown out of Botswana. Now they pitched their tent amid elephant bones, and began to fight back in Zambia — for teenage elephants left adrift, and for their human neighbors, struggling to survive.

Hear a conversation with Mark and Delia Owens on fighting for elephants in Africa.

Guests:

Mark and Delia Owens, zoologists and authors of "The Cry of the Kalahari" and "The Eye of the Elephant." Their most recent book is "Secrets of the Savanna."