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Saving the Earth
Animals in the Wild: Books
Humans first entered North America via the Bering land bridge about 13,000 years ago. Extinctions of all the major fauna of the continent – North American horses, a camel, the Shasta ground sloth, the saber-toothed tiger, a tapir, a giant sloth, a giant beaver and the flat-headed peccary – followed shortly.
Continue reading "Animals in the Wild" essay »
The books and DVDs recommended in these sections serve to call our attention to the animals of the world, from microscopic creatures at the bottom of the food chain, to the primates, some of whom have developed rudimentary language skills. These beautiful and compelling books and videos give us fascinating glimpses of animals in their natural habitat – the wild.
Recommended Books on Animals in the Wild |
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African Elephants
Reinhard Kunkel
Few wildlife photographers have worked in such close proximity with their subjects as Reinhard Kunkel. His close observation and decades of familiarity with these majestic animals are on display in the amazing photographs in this book. The 120 color plates capture elephants in all aspects of their daily lives: eating, bathing, mating, traveling, socializing, playing and fighting. A gorgeous volume.
1999, Harry N. Abrams
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Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife
David Burnie
Stunning photographs and informative text elevate this book beyond a coffee-table existence. It includes nformation on the classification of animals, their habitats and behavior with charts, maps, photographs and illustrations. Subsequent chapters focus on specific species, divided into broad groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and invertebrates. Endangered species information is at the end of each chapter. Since biodiversity is now at the forefront of biologists' concerns, the volume reports on the issues critical to ecology, from habitat loss to the species that are most endangered within each class.
Amazon.com Editor's Choice - Best of 2001
2005, DK ADULT
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The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild
Craig Childs
Each of the 40 brief, compelling narratives in The Animal Dialogues focuses on the author's personal encounter with a particular species and is replete with astonishing facts about the species' behavior, habitat, breeding, and lifespan. But the glory of each essay lies in Childs' ability to portray the sometimes brutal beauty of the wilderness, to capture the individual essence of wild creatures, to transport the reader beyond the human realm and deep inside the animal kingdom.
2007, Little, Brown and Company
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The Ants
Bert Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson
This beautifully written and accessible scientific study of one of the most diverse animal groups on earth won the Pulitizer Prize in 1991. From the Arctic to South Africa, making up nearly 15% of the entire terrestrial animal biomass, ants fascinate by their highly organized and complex social system. Their caste system, the division of labor, the origin of altruistic behavior, and their complex forms of chemical communication makes them the most interesting group of social organisms. Ants are the premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominatrices of the insect fauna.
1990, Belknap Press
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Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World's Most Remote Island Sanctuary
David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton
The photographers gained unprecedented access to these protected islands that are otherwise completely off-limits to people. With 300 stunning images, the book illustrates the spectacular diversity of the remarkable ecosystem of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
2005, National Geographic
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Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds
Jonathan Elphick, ed.
The photos and illustrations in this large, illustrated volume are so beautiful that one is tempted to skim the text, but that would be a mistake.The first section is a primer on bird migration and habitat usage patterns, including the evolution of migration, the mechanics of flight and birds' navagational methods. Succeeding sections examine different families of migrating birds according to geographical distribution, and each has carefully designed maps that show birds' seasonal ranges and migratory routes. A beautiful and functional text.
2007, Firefly Books
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The Atlas of Snakes of the World
John Coborn
This 591-page compendium of everything known about snakes includes snake evolution, classification, and general biology; interaction of snakes and humans; information for the pet owner; reproduction and propagation facts. But the bulk of the book is a heavily illustrated survey of the world's snakes: pit vipers, sea snakes, cobras, mambas, kraits, coral snakes, pythons and boas, rattlesnakes, and many other species.
1991, TFH Publications
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The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
Jonathan Weiner
On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists - Peter and Rosemary Grant - have spent 20 years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory. For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour and we can watch. In this dramatic story of ground-breaking scientific research, Johathan Weiner follows these scientists as they study Darwin's Finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself. The Beak of the Finch is an elegantly written and compelling masterpiece.
Winner of the Pulitizer Prize for Non-Fiction, 1995
1995, Vintage
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Between Species: Celebrating the Dolphin-Human Bond
Toni Frohoff and Brenda Peterson
This interesting collection brings together essays by writers, scientists, poets and even musicians, all of whom claim some ambassadorship to the cetacean world. Fascinating and thought-provoking.
2003, Sierra Club Books
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Bird
David Burnie and Ben Hoare
Unrivaled in scope for a single-volume reference work, this visual guide to every bird order and family profiles more than 1,500 species, photographed in their native environment by photographers around the globe. Authoritative, comprehensive, and completely up-to-date, this is a must-have reference for anyone with even a passing interest in the world's birds.
2007, DK Publishing
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Bird Migration: A General Survey
Peter Berthold
The question of how birds migrate over enormous distances with apparently minimal guidance continues to excite both professional and amateur ornithologists. Berthold carefully explains the evolution, genetic basis, extent of bird migration, and the history of its study. He then turns to the many types of migration known, and the physiological bases and control that allows migration to happen. The concluding chapters address the depressing reality of decline in migrant populations and future threats. This book is an inspiration to bird watchers, naturalists and ornithologists alike.
2001, Oxford University Press
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Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song
Les Beletsky
Here are splendid color illustrations of 250 species - water birds, forest birds, woodland birds, and open country birds. With each illustration is a description of the bird's range in the U.S. and Canada and its ecology and behavior. Each species' vocalizations - both songs and calls - can be heard on the CD accompanying the book. This fascinating book will be useful to bird watchers and everyone who loves birds.
Amazon.com Editors' Choice - Top 50 Books for 2006
2006, Chronicle Books
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The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes
Peter Matthiessen
National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen, a self-professed "craniac," has been studying birds most of his life, but his pursuit of cranes is closer to a spiritual quest than a naturalist's exercise. These majestic, mythic and notoriously shy birds, capable of soaring at heights of 20,000 feet, are often fond of remote and rugged places. Matthiessen's search for cranes has taken him to hidden corners of Siberia, China, Mongolia, Tibet, Sudan, and Australia. Matthiessen observes that the cranes serve as an ecological warning: "Perhaps more than any other living creatures, they evoke the retreating wilderness, the vanishing horizons of clean water, earth, and air upon which their species - and ours too - must ultimately depend for survival."
2003, North Point Press
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Birds of the World
Myriam Baran-Marescot and Gilles Martin
In this beautiful volume nature photographer Giles Martin offers a breathtaking collection of images of some of the world's most charasmatic birds, from Peru's Toco Toucan, to Australia's Blue-winged Kookaburra, to the U.S. Bald Eagle. Structured around 12 major themes that enable readers to better understand the evolution, migratory habits, and survival techniques of birds, as well as their place in the world, this thrilling and informative journey is as essential volume for animal and photography lovers alike.
2005, Harry N. Abrams
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Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark
Peter Matthiessen
In this classic book of nature writing, naturalist Matthiessen tells of his experiences as a crew member while filming the feature-length documentary, "Blue Water, White Death." The film's crew searched from the whaling grounds off South Africa to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia before they caught a glimpse of the ocean's most feared creature. One of the great stories of underwater adventure and exploration.
1997, Penguin
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Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape
Frans B. M. de Waal and Frans Lanting
Bonobos are intriguing primates who - though similar in appearance to chimpanzees - behave rather differently. While chimpanzees hunt, fight, and politic like mad, bonobos are peaceful, often ambisexual, and matriarchal. Their most striking idiosyncrasy is their readiness to use sex as a social lubricant. Any tension within a bonobo group is normally resolved by a quick orgy in which they all have sex with one another, in all positions and combinations. de Waal and Lanting provide an excellent framework for understanding these fascinating creatures.
1998, University of California Press
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Butterflies of the World
Myriam Baran and Gilles Martin
One in every ten insects is a butterfly or moth. Butterflies are among the planet's most majestic creatures, their delicate forms sprinkled with brilliant color and rich with texture. Spectacular images of butterflies are complemented by a wealth of detail on the ecology, anatomy, behavior, and life cycle of lepidopterans.
2006, Harry N. Abrams
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Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage
Robert Michael Pyle
Robert Pyle, a lepidopterist and nature writer, decided to personally investigate the migration of monarch butterflies by following them. His loosely concieved experiemnt took him over much of western North America, from a monarch breeding ground deep in the forests of British Columbia to the pine-clad mountainsides of central Mexico. His long journey is told in this book that mixes literate, often funny, travelogue with the natural history of Danaus plexippus and its relatives. This memoir serves both as a tribute to this majestic insect and as a thoughtful tour of the contemporary American West.
2001, Mariner Books
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Chimpanzee Cultures: With a Foreword by Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall and Richard Wrangham, et.al., eds
This volume, which creates the discipline of cultural primatology by using the tools of the cultural sciences and encouraging the use of ethnography in comparing chimpanzee populations, presents the best up-to-date collection of the current state of knowledge of most aspects of chimpanzee behavior, and it spells out the dangers facing these apes and their threatened environments.
1996, Harvard University Press
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Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
Mark Kurlansky
In this engaging history of a "one thousand year fishing spree" Kurlansky traces the relationship of the cod fishery to medieval Christianity and Christian observances; international conflicts over Icelandic cod; slavery, the molasses trade, and the dismantling of the British Empire; and the evolution of a sophisticated fishing industry in New England. The story does not have a happy ending however: the cod fishery is in deep trouble, as the Atlantic fish has been fished almost to extinction.
1998, Penguin
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In the Company of Wild Bears: A Celebration of Backcountry Grizzlies and Black Bears
Howard Smith and Michael H. Francis
Author Smith delivers a loving tribute to the Ursidae family that will delight animal enthusiasts, combining accounts of his true-life encounters with bears across North America with no-nonsense sidebars that dispense useful information for people interested in seeing bears firsthand. (One tip: "Play dead if touched by a grizzly. Fight back if touched by a black bear.") This lavishly illustrated book is a fascinating compendium of bear information.
2006, The Lyons Press
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The Company of Wolves
Peter Steinhart
This book examines the relationship between humans and wolves in the wolves' last refuges in the Arctic and in places where the two species live together again as wolves move into new areas, either through their own natural movements or through attempts at reintroduction. Steinhart balances the book (while letting the reader know of his deep fondness and respect for wolves) between the wolves' advocates and their opponents, speaking with wolf biologists, wildlife managers, trappers, ranchers, Native Americans, and others.
1996, Vintage
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The Condor's Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America
David S. Wilcove
Environmental Defense Fund ecologist Wilcove's important report takes the reader on a chilling tour of the killing fields of America: the abused ecosystems where one-third of all U.S plant and animal species are in immediate danger of extinction or are severly threatened. This eloquent study is written from an ecological perspective showing how the disruption of one element in an ecosystem affects all components of the larger system.
2000, Anchor
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The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
Claire Nouvian
Only five percent of the sea floor has been mapped, and scientists estimate that there are between ten million and thrity million species in the deep yet to be found by man. The ones that we do know are gloriously bizarre creatures that bear weird names such as Naked Sea Butterflies, Spook Fish, Pig Butt Worms, Glass Head Grenadiers, and Yeti Crabs. This stunning collection of color photos brings these deep-sea denizens alive.
2007, University Of Chicago Press
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The Diversity of Fishes
Gene S. Helfman
"The Diversity of Fishes is a massive enterprise. The book explores the diversity of fish in terms of anatomy, taxonomy, phylogeny, physiology, ecology and behavior, even science history, and also importantly, their future." Nature
1997, Wiley
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Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles
Karen Pryor, Kenneth S. Norris
This edited collection of articles covers field and aquarium studies on whale and dolphin communication. The chapters cover a variety of topics such as the behavior of dolphins inside tuna nets, analyses of feeding and hunting strategies and many other facets of cetacean behavior.
1998, University of California Press
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Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family
Cynthia Moss
Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya is home ground to some 600 elephants; this herd has been relatively free from human interference and was a major focus for field study. Moss follows one extended family through 13 years of good times and bad times, observing details of their daily lives. This captivating story of an animal family covers mating, migration, social behavior, births and deaths. The final chapter addresses the problems of elephant control and conservation.
2000, University Of Chicago Press
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The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa
Caitlin O'Connell
Naturalist O'Connell's memoir of her 14 years researching the complexities of elephant behavior is a successful combination of science and soulfulness, explaining her ground-breaking theory of how elephants use seismic communication. Fascinated by the "particular way that elephants seemed to be listening with their feet," she soon realized that the elephants were communicating with low frequency sound waves traveling through the ground. Fascinating and sympathetic insights into elephant behavior.
2007, Free Press
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Endangered: Wildlife on the Brink of Extinction
George C. McGavin
Earth has seen at least five great extinction periods, involving volcanic eruptions, meteor strikes, and rapid climate change. The sixthth great extinction is underway, the result of humankind's fearsome impact on the environment. Featuring more than 400 photographs, this book details the plant and animal species that are either endangered or so severely threatened that they soon will be. The authors offer a thoughtful celebration of nature's diversity and a plea to rein in current behaviors that negatively affect the planet.
2006, Firefly Books
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Evolution of the Insects
David Grimaldi
Put all of the insects on the Earth on a giant scale, and they will outweigh all other animals, whales and elephants included. Insects are ecologically essential. If all humans decided to leave for Mars, life on Earth would not change much. But if the insects disappeared, catastrophe would ensue: forests would collapse, rivers and oceans would be poisoned, and many other animals would starve. This book chronicles the amazing success story of insects with text, photos, line drawings, and diagrams.
2005, Cambridge University Press
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Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival
Carl Safina
In this dazzling volume, Safina, a MacArthur award recipient, recounts his travels to remote portions of the northwest Hawaiian Islands to witness albatross breeding season, during which parent birds fly across entire oceans as much as 25,000 miles to hunt sufficient food to nourish their single chicks. This book eloquently tells a story of struggle and hope and the power of sheer persistence and life's resilience.
Winner, John Burroughs Medal for Natural History
2003, Owl Books
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Eye to Eye
Frans Lanting
Award-winning photographer Lanting states that he seeks to "show the strength and dignity of animals in nature." It is impossible to look at these extraordinary photographs without responding emotionally. The book pictures animals individually, in twos, and in groups; in his photographers' notes Lanting describes each photograph, the animal, the situation, and the animal's reaction to the photographer. The subjects did not always appreciate posing for him; while making his images, Lanting was challenged by African elephants, sniffed at by lions, and shunned by macaws.
2003, Taschen
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Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World
Erich Hoyt and Ted Schultz , eds.
"Alien creatures have overrun planet Earth. They wear their skeletons on the outside, bite sideways, smell with antennae, taste with their feet, and breathe through holes in the sides of their bodies . . . they are the insects." This collection of essays provides good reading on the lives of these mysterious creatures, accompanied by many fascinating illustrations.
2002, Harvard University Press
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James Cameron's Aliens of the Deep: Voyages to the Strange World of the Deep Ocean
Joe Macinnis
Acadamy Award-winning film maker, James Cameron, and scientist, Joe Macinnis, collaborate to take readers miles below the sea to hydrothermal vents where super-heated water flows from the earth's crust into the cold deep ocean. These vents are surprising oases of life, unknown until 1970 and still largely unexplored. Stunning photographs of undersea creatures are accompanied by an illuminating text.
2005, National Geographic
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Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest
Sy Montgomery
In a deeply felt, magical voyage to the tropics, Boston Globe nature columnist Montgomery pursues the pink dolphin, a rare fresh water species, in the Amazon river. This elusive creature, with chameleon-like color changes and pink back or fins, has inspired much local lore. Combining a journalist's cool objectivity with a dolphin lover's almost mystical ecological consciousness, Montgomery luxuriates in the myths and legends as she ably reports the scientific facts. An exciting blend of travel, adventure, and natural history.
2000, Simon & Schuster
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Jungles
Frans Lanting
In this oversized portfolio of striking color images made over two decades on four continents, Lanting chronicles the life of the world's jungles, organizing the work by themes - water and light, color and camouflage, anarchy and order, form and evolution. The photographer's essays bring to life the challenge of jungle photography: "Whatever you take into the jungle becomes part of the food chain, whether it is your equipment or yourself."
2005, Taschen
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The Last Tasmanian Tiger: The History and Extinction of the Thylacine
Robert Paddle
An insightful examination of the history and extinction of one of Australia's most enduring folkloric beasts, the book argues that rural politicians, ineffective political action by scientists, and a deeper intellectual prejudice about the inferiority of marsupials actually resulted in the extinction of this once proud species.
2002, Cambridge University Press
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The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Rain Forest
Ian McAllister
Award-winning writer and photographer McAllister draws from his intimate observations of more than 40 wolf packs along the rugged coastline of British Columbia over a 17 year period in this first-ever documentation of their fascinating, complex way of life. In a compelling narrative with more than 100 stunning photographs, McAllister captures these majestic animals fishing for salmon, stalking the seals, playing on the beach, and raising their families.
2007, University of California Press
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Life in the Undergrowth
David Attenborough
This wonderful exploration of invertebrates exceeds the requirements for a great nature book through the strength of its photographs and the quality of its prose. It traces the broad history of the development of the vast invertebrate world which constitutes by far the greatest numbers of both species and individuals on earth.
2006, Princeton University Press
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Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed
Alan Rabinowitz
The New York Times dubbed Alan Rabinowitz "the Indiana Jones of wildlife science." He has devoted - and risked - his life to protect endangered species. The lush Hukaung Valley of Myanmar is home to one of the largest tiger populations outside of India - a population threatened by rampant poaching and the recent encroachment of gold prospectors. In forests reviled as the valley of death, Rabinowitz finds new life for himself, for communities haunted by poverty and violence, and for the tigers he vowed to protect.
2007, Island Press
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Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us
Alexandra Morton
Morton writes eloquently of the orcas' social groupings, strong mother-child bonds, migration patterns, and interactions with humans. Her book graphically describes the effects of fish farming, logging, development, and whale-watching expeditions on the environment.
2004, Ballantine Books
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Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere With Migratory Birds
Scott Weidensaul
"At whatever moment you read these words, day or night, there are birds aloft in the skies of the western hemisphere, migrating." With helpful supporting maps, Weidensaul describes the migrating habits of many bird species and considers the intriguing question of how they do it. The heart of this compelling story is a plea for the conservation of habitats to keep these miraculous creatures circling the earth.
2000, North Point Press
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The Living Wild
Art Wolfe
Recognizing that we cannot save animals without saving the places they live, photographer Art Wolfe has illustrated this concept by using wide-angle lenses to portray animals in their habitats. The pictures thus become both portraits and landscapes, drawing in the viewer with the immediacy of an individual creature and the grandeur of its habitat. The result is a rich pictorial tour of a magnificent array of animals complemented by essays written by renowned conservationists.
2000, Wildlands Press
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Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of a Conservation Icon
Henry Nicholls
The Galapagos islands are the home of giant tortoises - 14 different types, 9 of which evolved in isolation on separate islands in the archipelago. The tortoises of the most northerly island, Pinta, were supposed to have been extinct since 1906, but in 1971 a biologist discovered a single, lone tortoise. Lonesome George, as he was later christened, was transported to the tortoise breeding center on the island of Santa Cruz. Further searches of Pinta turned up no more tortoises, and it appears that Lonesome George was the last of his kind. Science writer Nicholls tells the story of his rise to conservation poster boy and tourist attraction -- an unwitting bystander thrust to the forefront as society's defining crises play themselves out around him.
2007, Macmillan
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The Lost Grizzlies: A Search for Survivors in the Wilderness of Colorado
Rick Bass
Grizzly bears had not been seen in the San Juan mountains of southern Colorado for almost 15 years when a small group of men set out to seek definitive evidence that the animals still existed there. They sought a tuft of fur, footprints, or best of all, photographs to convince wildlife officials that this habitat should be preserved. Bass eloquently describes the pristine mountain meadows, the icy streams, the old growth forests, and the men who seek to preserve them.
1997, Mariner Books
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The Magic of Cranes
Carl-Albrecht von Treuenfels
Cranes, long-necked and long-legged birds who mate for life, have fascinated many cultures - as symbols of longevity, happy marriage, and messengers of wisdom. This beautiful volume includes maps depicting migratory routes; guides to where cranes can be seen in their natural habitats; striking photographs of these handsome birds; and detailed information on how they live, their elaborate and noisy courting dances, how they nurture their young and how they migrate each winter.
2007, Harry N. Abrams
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