Author sheds emotional light on Africa's wild life

The book introduces dozens of wild animals living in different ecosystems in Africa, from grassland and rainforest, to volcano, wetland and island. The book has garnered 9.4 points out of 10 on China's popular review site Douban.

Chen, 45, is an acclaimed author, who has written and translated 10 books. He says he used to focus on wild animals in East Africa, and this book "has a broader scope and covers the ecological areas of a dozen sub-Saharan African countries".

Just as his books inform readers, he, himself, has learned from his wild animal friends. For example, he illustrates in this book his experience with cheetahs.

According to Chen, despite the cheetah being one of the fastest animals on land, it suffers great difficulties since its evolution has enhanced the big cat's running ability, but at the expense of forelimb strength and bite force. As a result, it's actually one of the "weaker" animals on the grassland compared with others, and its prey is often taken away by lions and vultures.

"Although it's relatively weak, it behaves with no trace of shyness or complaint, but seems elegant and confident, wandering in an unhurried way on the grassland, seemingly living its best life, despite its shortcomings. That is so attractive to me, and reminds me to learn from such an attitude," says Chen.

He also mentions elephants in the book as being strong animals without natural enemies thanks to their huge size, but also struck with deep emotions. "Elephants mourn their dead. When their mate dies, the herd holds a funeral, during which other elephants touch or dump soil on their fallen compatriot with their trunks," says Chen.