Cynthia Moss's studies have concentrated on the demography, behavior, social organization, and population dynamics of the African elephants of Amboseli.
14 Facts About Cynthia Moss
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Cynthia Moss is the director of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, and is the program director and trustee for the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.
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Cynthia Jane Moss was born in Ossining, New York on July 24,1940.
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Cynthia Moss's father, Julian, was a publisher of several small-town newspapers, and her mother, Lillian, left her work as a legal secretary to raise Cynthia and her older sister, Carolyn.
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Cynthia Moss began riding horses at the age of 7, and by age 12, she had her own horse, Kelly.
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In 1967, Cynthia Moss took a leave of absence so she could see the African continent herself, which had been described to her in letters by her college friend, Penny Naylor, who had recently moved to Africa.
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Cynthia Moss continued to work with Douglas-Hamilton until the fall of 1968, when his project ended and he returned to England.
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In 1972, Cynthia Moss was encouraged by ecologist David "Jonah" Western to consider studying the last undisturbed elephant herd in Africa, in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya.
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In 1975, Cynthia Moss published her book Portraits in the Wild, which gave her respect in the field, and aided her in receiving a $5,000 grant from the AWF, thus allowing her to devote nearly all of her time to the study of the elephants of Amboseli.
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That year, Cynthia Moss set up camp in the park and began to gather information on the elephant's behavior, daily movements, and relationships.
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Cynthia Moss focused on elephant conservation in the late 1980s as she saw the elephant population halved by poaching for ivory and loss of habitat.
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Cynthia Moss is most famous for her study of Echo, an elephant matriarch who has been the subject of Cynthia Moss's book Echo of the Elephants: The Story of an Elephant Family along with several documentaries.
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Cynthia Moss's studies have given a remarkable insight into the way elephants live, showing that they live in a highly organized, multi-tiered society that is led by a matriarch.
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Cynthia Moss has received many awards in recognition of her dedication to the study of elephants in Amboseli including the Smith College Medal for Alumnae Achievement, MacArthur Genius Fellowship, and the Conservation Award from the Friends of the National Zoo and the Audubon Society.