First Field Guide to Rocks & Minerals, the latest addition to the popular Struik Nature series, introduces the most important and interesting rocks and minerals from our geologically exciting region.

The guide details 30 minerals and 18 major rock types, focusing on those that are best known or most commonly found. A short introduction provides an overview of the topic; colourful photographs throughout, both of the rocks and minerals and of the particular terrain in which they are found, complement the clear text and aid identification in the field.

First Field Guide to Rocks & Minerals is a useful resource for the beginner geologist, curious novice, or anyone with a budding interest in southern Africa's unique geological heritage.

This highly regarded reference work, a botanical classic, has been fully revised and updated. A fresh new design and beautiful full-colour images aid identification.

First published in 1981, Succulent Flora has long served as an authoritative guide for academics and lay enthusiasts alike. This third edition takes into account intervening taxonomic advances and the discovery and naming of ever more species.

Information has been supplemented in line with the latest thinking and the book has been newly designed for clarity and ease of reference. Given the phenomenal extent of our succulent flora, this fully updated edition is a timely addition to the botanical literature of southern Africa.

New in Struik Nature’s Pocket Guide series, this book covers an astonishing 500 southern African birds yet is small enough to fit in your pocket.

It is loaded with information that makes for quick and easy bird identification:

• Colour photographs show each bird, giving both male and female images where there's a difference.
• Concise text pinpoints key identification features.
• Distribution maps locate each species in the region.
• Calendar bars show the months when the birds are more likely to be seen.
• Bird size and breeding months are indicated.
• For use at home or when travelling to new climes, this handy pocket guide will be an indispensable companion.

This comprehensively updated and expanded edition of the region’s best-selling field guide to trees offers much, much more than the highly successful first edition. Fully updated text (including additional species entries) and distribution maps, numerous new photographs and a new 87-page section of full-tree photographs makes this well-loved guide even more indispensable in the field.

Southern Africa has a rich variety of tree species, with an estimated 2 100 indigenous species and more than 100 naturalised aliens. Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa describes and illustrates more than 1 000 of these, focusing on trees that are the most common and most likely to be encountered. Species are logically arranged in 43 groups based on easy-to-observe leaf and stem features, and each account is illustrated by full-colour photographs of the plant’s diagnostic parts. The text also touches on the practical uses of the plants.

When the famous South African fish scientist Professor JLB Smith published Old Fourlegs - The Story of the Coelacanth in 1956 he created an international sensation. After all, this 400-million-year-old fish, known only from fossil remains, was thought to have become extinct around 66 million years ago! JLB Smith’s dramatic account of the discovery of the first and second coelacanths in 1938 and 1952 turned him into a cult figure and put South African science on the world map. His book was eventually published in six English editions and translated into nine foreign languages.

Mike Bruton’s The Annotated Old Fourlegs includes a facsimile reprint of the original book, to which he has added notes and images in the margins that provide an interesting and revealing commentary on Smith’s text, as well as new introductory and explanatory chapters that bring the coelacanth story up to date.

This is an all-in-one travellers' guide to the Serengeti National Park – the vast, iconic reserve in the heart of East Africa. The book offers detailed maps, travel information and a photographic field guide in a single, handy volume.

The scope of this guide is rich and encompassing: after a general introduction to the Serengeti, it discusses the history and people of the region; the landscape, geology and soils; tourist information, including recommended routes, best season, safaris offered and booking details; and it describes the important places to see. Detailed maps indicate tourist routes and what to look out for.

The field guide section includes zsubstantial check lists and colour photos of the vegetation (trees, flowers, grasses), mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds one is likely to see. It includes info on the habits and behaviours of the animals described.

Packed with interesting facts, maps and images, and with a comprehensive index for easy reference, this is an essential guide for visitors and tourists to the Serengeti National Park.

Freshwater life – the first illustrated field guide of its kind for the wider southern African region – describes a vast range of plant and animal groups in a single volume.

A ground-breaking concept that encompasses diverse groups from the large and conspicuous vertebrates to the diverse microscopic taxa, the book facilitates identifi cation and describes the ecology of more than 1,000 freshwater organisms.

Species have been selected on the basis of how likely they are to be encountered, and each account is accompanied by photographs and a distribution map. A comprehensive introduction details the ecology and signifi cance of freshwater systems. This indispensible, easy-to-use guide will prove invaluable to outdoor enthusiasts, students and conservationists.

Sasol First Field Guide to Snakes & Other Reptiles of Southern Africa provides fascinating insight into the reptiles of the region.

Through full-colour photographs and distribution maps, and easy-to-read text, the beginner and budding naturalist will be able to identify the more common species found in southern Africa, discover where they live, and learn about their unique feeding and nesting habits.

Elephants have long been targeted by humans: not only are they killed for their ivory, but their extraordinary strength, intelligence and charisma have seen some of them captured, chained and effectively jailed for life.

Bully and Induna are two African elephants, both orphaned in organised culling operations and destined for lives in captivity. Growing up far apart and quite differently, Bully (a former animal film star) and the less fortunate Induna were both driven to react to their circumstances – Induna even killed one of his carers. Their individual situations reached a point where both were considered to be dangerous animals and were under threat of being put down.

This is the true story of their lives. Conservationist Richard Peirce presents their individual narratives and the twists and turns of their fortunes: the exploitation of these majestic but sensitive animals, how they each came to be trapped in unsuitable ‘employment’ and shunted about from one venue to the next, before finding one another – free at last – on a farm in southern Africa.

Giant Steps is a gripping story, full of drama, danger, sadness and ultimate rescue.

This is a collection of 101 jaw-dropping stories, as told by the very people who experienced them – first-hand accounts of sightings, scrapes and encounters in one of Africa’s greatest National Parks. It details hair-raising experiences from the Kruger Park’s roads, camps, picnic sites and walking trails, such as:

- An enraged elephant flips a car onto its roof

- A lioness prises open a terrified couple’s car door

- A fleeing impala leaps through an open car window

- A hyaena snatches a baby from a tent

- A tourist takes a bath in a croc-infested dam ...

A bedside book, a travel companion, a dip-into, read-anywhere compilation of joyful encounters laced with terrible warnings. Wherever you are, this book will transport you directly into the bush.

This series of natural history field guides has been developed in the hope that young people and anyone with a budding interest in natural history will take up the challenge to learn the secrets of southern Africa's fascinating fauna and flora. These little guides are an invaluable resource for the beginner, providing information at a glance through superb photographs, maps, and easy-to-read text.

The Reef Guide documents some 800 reef fishes and invertebrates found along the east and south coasts of southern Africa.

Following on the success of Dennis King’s earlier two titles, this impressive new guide features 578 species of fish and includes sections on anemones, starfish, snails, crabs and shrimps.

Full-colour photographs and descriptive text for each species, along with useful and interesting information, make for easy identification. While focusing on southern Africa, the book is also applicable to the entire east coast of Africa, as well as the islands of the western Indian Ocean – Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, the Comoros and the Maldives.

Indispensable for divers, snorkelers and rock-pool enthusiasts, as well as fishermen and marine aquarists.

A remarkable variety of animals and plants can be found in the wilderness region surrounding the Okavango Delta. This photographic guide covers more than 470 of the area’s most conspicuous and interesting mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, fishes, invertebrates, trees and aquatic plants.

An informative introduction describes the area’s geology, climate, habitats and the key roles played by some animals, such as termites and elephants. The species accounts feature concise text describing the species’ appearance, size, habits, habitat and status, with full-colour photographs to facilitate identification.

Frogs of Southern Africa: A Complete Guide remains the most authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the frogs of the region ever produced, covering all aspects of frog and tadpole biology and behaviour.

This new edition (with a slight name change) has been thoroughly updated to reflect taxonomic changes based on the most recent research and DNA studies, and includes 12 new species and more than 130 new images. All 169 southern African frog species, and their tadpole stages, are fully described, along with their conservation status, calls, habitat and habits. Identification is made easy with the aid of over 1000 large, full-colour images, keys to species and summary panels on ‘Key ID points’ and ‘Distinctive characters’.

Calls for most species can be accessed instantly via QR codes in the book or downloaded from a dedicated website. Spectrograms of the calls are also included in the book.

Written by respected authorities in the field, this timely updated edition will be of benefit to all nature lovers, amateur ‘froggers’, students and professional scientists.

Frogs & Frogging in South Africa offers amateur froggers an accessible and practical introduction to frog identification.

This edition of the highly popular guide has been expertly revised and fully updated to reflect the latest advances in taxonomy and nomenclature.

It offers: all of the species in Africa south of latitude 22 °S; a section on frog biology and behaviour; how to photograph frogs and record their calls; how to attract frogs to your garden, and ideas for projects such as building a pond; the range of frog species to be found in different environmental niches; maps and colourful photographs with the updated accounts; a new key to the identification of tadpole genera; a CD with all 115 frog calls, which offer one of the best ways to find.

Here is an all-in-one travellers' guide to one of the most extraordinary and beautiful places on Earth. It offers detailed maps, travel information and a photographic field guide in a single, handy volume. The travel guide section offers a regional map and 12 detailed satellite maps of all tourist areas; info on how to get around, where to stay, road conditions, climate and best season to visit; and background info on the history, people, topography, geology and archaeology. The field guide section includes check lists and over 500 photos of the plants, animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects one is likely to see; info on the nutritional value and medicinal uses of plants; habitat preferences of large mammals, and interesting animal and bird behaviour. A comprehensive index for easy reference rounds off this essential guide for visitors and tourists to East Africa.

The Kruger National Park, one of the largest and best-known conservation areas in the world, supports a remarkable diversity of birds. This attractive and handy field guide lists more than 500 species that have been recorded here, and provides full-colour photographs, detailed distribution maps and succinct information on 400 of these – all the species that a visitor is likely to encounter in the park.

An informative introduction describes the park’s underlying geology, vegetation types, climate and rainfall, and how these dictate bird distributions within the area.

Fully revised, Birds of Africa south of the Sahara provides unrivalled coverage of African birds in a single volume, and is the first book to describe and illustrate all of the birds found in Africa south of the Sahara Desert (the Afrotropic Region), including Socotra, Pemba and islands in the Gulf of Guinea.

Despite its exceptional coverage, this guide is compact enough to use in the field, and follows the standard field guide format, with texts and range maps appearing opposite the colour plates.

This compact, easy-to-use guide features more than 350 of the most conspicuous and commonly seen birds in Namibia.

Pocket Guide Birds of Namibia offers:

- Concise identification text

- Full-colour photographs of all species covered

- Up-to-date distribution maps

- An informative introduction featuring the ‘specials’ of the key birding destinations in Namibia.

An ideal introduction and travelling companion for birders in or visiting the region.

Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands is a comprehensive guide to the bird life of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes – an area that boasts high levels of endemism.

This new, expanded edition is fully updated to reflect taxonomic changes, and now describes and illustrates 502 species. The species accounts cover the birds’ appearance, basic behaviour, preferred habitats, geographical distribution and IUCN threat status.

The text is complemented by newly designed plates with labels pinpointing key differentiating features. The introduction includes maps for each island, lists the region’s 211 endemic species, and gives pointers on where to go bird-watching.

Geological journeys - a traveller's guide to South Africa's rocks and landforms is an essential companion for car journeys. For those who wonder about the jaunty tilt of a mountain ahead, the unusual patterns of a road cutting, the colour and texture of the roadside soil, or the purpose of a distant minehead, this volume offers answers and explanations about features along all the major routes across South Africa, and some of the lesser, but geologically interesting, routes too.

Also included are the three main metropolitan areas – Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban – so that city residents can understand the geological features surrounding them. Using familiar landmarks to pinpoint sites and subtle phenomena, the authors bring to light our rich geological heritage, its likely roots and often tumultuous history.

Along the way, they also discuss the historical background, personalities and stories that relate to the landscape.

This photographic field guide to southern African birds comprises the biggest and most comprehensive collection of photographs of the region's birds in one volume.

It describes and illustrates all 958 bird species found in southern Africa, and an additional 17 species recorded from the Southern Ocean and associated islands, and Antarctica. Over 2 500 images show age and sex plumage variations, perched and in-flight birds, and colour morphs where relevant. authors.

Colour-coded distribution maps give resident and migratory status, and bird density. Annual seasonality bars show at a glance when species are present and when they breed. A-Z directory provides quick guide to locating groups. Group introductions provide additional clues to identification.

This comprehensive guide follows traditional species sequence. It brings a new dimension to bird identification in southern Africa and will prove indispensable in the field.

Ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar as Volledige Fotografiese Gids: Voëls Van Suider-Afrika.

Sasol First Field Guide to Sharks, Whales and Dolphins of Southern Africa provides fascinating insight into the sea creatures of the region. With the help of full-colour photographs or illustrations, distribution maps, and easy-to-read text, the young adult and budding naturalist will be able to identify the more common shark, whale and dolphin species found in southern Africa, discover where they live, and learn about their unique feeding and breeding habits.

This edition of Newman's birds of Southern Africa at once updates a classic and pays tribute to one of the region's birding authors, the late Kenneth Newman. With the support of Faansie Peacock, the author's daughter, Vanessa Newman, has thoroughly revised, updated and expanded this new edition to reflect the latest research, both in terms of text and illustrations.

Covering all the birds recorded from the Antarctic to the Zambezi River, its range includes the birds from the southern seas as well as those of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique. The format of Newman's birds has been preserved and subtly modernized.

Colour coding of major bird groups and the characteristically bold cross-referencing between text and images have been retained. As always, large, accurate paintings of each species reflect the bird as it is seen in the field, and are now labeled with diagnostic features, in line with top guides round the world.

A revised introductory section takes readers step-by-step through how to use this latest edition of Newman's Birds of Southern Africa in the field.

Sasol Eerste Veldgids tot Bome van Suider-Afrika bied ’n fassinerende blik op die bome van die subkontinent. Met behulp van volkleurfoto's en verspreidingskaarte, asook maklik leesbare teks, sal die beginner en ontluikende natuurliefhebber die meer algemene bome in Suider-Afrika kan identifiseer, kan vasstel waar hulle groei, en meer te wete kom oor hul unieke eienskappe.