Learning about wildlife through stories

Want to know more about the dung beetle, the Hanuman langur, the pangolin or the horned owl?
A new book attempts to create awareness among children about wildlife and particularly about these species through tales of quest, adventure and mythology.
Authored by wildlife activists Arefa Tehsin and her father Raza H Tehsin, "The Land of the Setting Sun and Other Nature Tales" is about the adventures and thrills of the wilderness and wild animals.
The eight stories are woven around the dung beetle, scorpion, hyena, Hanuman langur, ratel, pangolin, horned owl, wild goat and cheetah. They describe their life-cycles and little-known facts about these species.

"The idea of 'Land of the Setting Sun' germinates from my naturalist father, who has been the initiator of wildlife conservation movement in southern Rajasthan. He always believed that stories are the medium to bring children close to nature, not preaching and teaching," says Arefa.
"This book is an attempt to connect older children as well as adults with nature through facts of conservation and animal life cycles blended into tales of quest, adventure and mythology," she says.

In the first story "The Land of the Setting Sun", the authors tell interesting facts about dung beetles and how humans and other animals have benefited hugely from them.

"They are now utilised to bury livestock dung in the cattle industry, to improve the quality of pastures, to reduce diseases caused by pests like bush flies, and to improve the fertility of agricultural lands," the book, published by TERI Press, says.
"Hanuman langurs have exceptional hearing and vision and excel in communicating by producing different sounds," says the tale "Hanu and Sheru".
Do you know that only one in 100 owls make it to adulthood? And also that they hunt with surprise. These are some of the little-known facts about owls mentioned in the story "The Owl-man Coin".