Haikus for Charly: The Lone Lioness of the Namib Desert (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798267528337)

This haiku anthology chronicles the extraordinary life of Charly (Xpl-114, November 2015-May 31, 2025), a female desert-adapted lion of the Namib Desert. These "desert lions" have navigated harsh realities of survival in one of the most unforgiving places on earth. The desert lions were almost extinct in the 1980's, but with the efforts of the Desert Lion Conservation Trust, the population has recovered to about 70; hence they are referred to as "illusory lions."

Most of the desert lions live in the Hoanib Floodplain of the Hoanib River, one of the 12 ephemeral rivers in the Namib Desert, part of which constitutes the Skeleton Coast National Park of Namibia.

In October 2016, Charly and her two sisters were orphaned at 11 months old. The Desert Lion Conservation Trust called them "orphans" and fitted satellite collars on them and monitored them day and night. Miraculously, the orphaned triplets learned to survive on their own. Charly, the youngest, soon split up from her sisters, Alpha and Bravo, and became a solitary lioness.

Charly showed us the secret of the survival of the desert lions and touched us with her extraordinary adaptability and resilience to survive alone, so that she became a popular tourist attraction of the Skeleton Coast National Park. Charly's story however ended with a tragedy.

This haiku collection presents 53 original haikus written by this author, as a homage, with appropriate season words per the Japanese calendar and annotations.

Author: Mayumi Itoh
ISBN-13: 9798267528337
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 09/28/2025
Pages: 234
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.49d