Tender Killers

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Four species of the wildcheetah, gnu, lion and hyenaare shown here in striking color photos taken in Kenya by Arthus-Bertrand, who formerly was director of a game reserve. He spent three years photographing these animals, and his work shows an understanding of the violence and tenderness inherent in nature (hence the title). In one shot, a lioness is suckling her cub, and in the next, she kills a gnu in a suffocating ``kiss of death.'' Hyenas frolic in the water, then the same animals are shown disemboweling a buffalo. Gnu are photographed in their bi-annual migration during which a stampede across a river inevitably tramples to death tens of thousands of them. A cheetah gives chase to an antelope, catches, and kills it, in a succession of photos. Although the violence here will surely disquiet many readers, Arthus-Bertrand's pictures are an accurate portrayal of life and death in the wild. November