The Twilight of the Wild

5/5 ( ratings)

Explorer and wildlife lecturer Rusty Johnson gives a dramatic, insightful, and many times humorous account of his adventures while living in The Twilight of the Wild. Rusty believes that the human race has entered the twilight of the wild. As modern society continually separates themselves from the natural world, we as a species are becoming domesticated, losing touch with our roots.
The story begins when Rusty was only 5 years old and his mother caught him strapping a rhinestone cat collar and leash on a dead rabbit. This was when he first became enamored with the beauty of the natural world. This "new pet", which his cat killed, was his first experience with a wild animal, and soon, decomposition. Although he promised that "It will not eat much, and everyday I will take it for a drag.", he was not allowed to keep the dead rabbit. But what he was able to keep was the connection he made with that animal, which gave him a fever-like passion to explore all facets of the natural world.
As time passed his "world" grew from raising and training hawks, owls, and a condor in up-state New York, to trekking 3,000 miles through southern Africa, and monitoring environmental devastation on an active volcano in the West Indies. Rusty immerses himself in this world, creating a direct connection to wild animals and the cultures surrounding them. Every chapter carries you through a range of captivating experiences as he works hands-on with some of the most magnificent animals in the world and encounters some of the wildest creatures and places in the world. His subjects range from sleeping among lions in the Kalahari, and tracking elephant herds, to a leg swallowing snake, and test tube tigers.
He includes several of his humanitarian experiences such as helping three young homeless girls made orphans by AIDS, as they fight for their lives in the dangerous dark alleys of Zimbabwe. He brings readers to a poverty stricken shanty village in South Africa and recalls dramatic conversations with victims of slavery, a lynching, and Rwandan genocide.
Rusty acts as an ambassador. Through his exciting adventures he promotes understanding and interaction between modern society and the natural world, thus igniting the human instinct for exploration and adventure. Once ignited, the reader becomes enticed to experience The Twilight of the Wild for themselves.
Rusty’s down to earth writing style attracts the attention of a broad audience and can be equally enjoyed by elementary thru high school students as well as adults. Many schools have given The Twilight of the Wild to students as graduation awards for outstanding achievement.