For the weary urban dweller, the verdant Mangala valley near the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, would seem like a haven of peace and tranquillity. Appearances could not be more deceptive, as Saad Bin Jung discovered after forsaking his life in the city for a stone cottage in the valley. If the surrounding jungles were teeming with wildlife of every variety, the life that the humans of the area led was no less wild. Here, he recounts the adventures that he had with some of them: the leopard who moved into ?bison cottage?, the dining hall cobra, the magnificent Mangala tiger, Torn Ears, the most-photographed gaur of his time, and the elephants whom he loved with a passion, Colonel Hathi, Jayaprakash and even the Right-chipped Tusker with his bullying ways, amongst them.

Not to be outdone were the members of the Kuruba tribe and other humans ? Mr B, the family expert, the elderly manager with a raging libido, the gorgeous foreign girls who almost saw him booted out of the family ? who came to share his life at Bush Betta, the wildlife resort that he set up in 1991.

Hair-raising and hilarious, these are stories that anyone who has had a taste of the wilds, or wished that they could, will enjoy, as much for their drama and comedy as for the many fascinating insights into animal behaviour that they convey. No less compelling is the message between the lines: the grandeur and beauty of India?s forests, and the need to preserve them at all costs.