Smithers' Mammals of Southern Africa - A field Guide

A field guide has to be portable, and therefore it can provide only summaries of the available information. To make best use of limited space, the more common, accessible and better-studied species have full accounts with colour illustrations, distribution maps, spoor drawings and detailed text, species that are less likely to be encountered have brief summaries and are indicated by means of a grey bar in the margin; and some rare species are mentioned only by name.

Wildlife tourism in its widest sense is projected to become Africa's biggest earner of foreign exchange, and while there is growing awareness of the value of the wildlife and other resources of natural areas, the challenge of reconciling immediate demands for resources with conservation on behalf of future generations has still not found an answer that satisfies the conflicting demands of Africa's particular economic, social and political circumstances.