An additional eighty-page illustrated reference section on the animal kingdom explains the animal groups and profiles additional species.Produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution.Reviews:"[G]orgeous coffee table book of animal life across the planet...This book is a perfect reference guide, a delight to page through..." - Publishers Weekly"If there's a must-have coffee-table book, this is it." - The Sacramento Bee"Beautifully illustrated with handsome photographs." - Booklist (Starred Review)"[A] big book filled with great photography." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Like a classic children's treasury book, this lavish work is an ideal option for researchers and browsers alike." - School Library Journal (Starred Review)

    Fitzpatrick, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, and Scott Weidensaul; 250 photographs. "The birds sang us back to life]]"from the Foreword An intimate yet stunning exploration of North American species, The Living Bird shares our joyful and complex relationship with birds. Through imagery and thoughtful essays, award-winning photographer Gerrit Vyn, along with leading naturalists and bird enthusiasts, takes readers on a visual and experiential journey, revealing the essence of the century-long work done by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Barbara Kingsolver remembers herself as a reluctant birder until, years later, she exalts in a special birding trip with her father. Scott Weidensaul dives into the secret lives of birds: How do flocks of birds manage to migrate thousands of miles? What determines who mates with whom? And what is the purpose of all those pretty feathers and glorious melodies? In her essay, Lyanda Lynn Haupt finds inspiration in our everyday birds as they connect us to the natural world. Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology John W. Fitzpatrick considers the threats birds face today, and some of the failuresand successesof the past. Jared Diamond underscores that it is in our hands to preserve the living birds around us. For 100 years, the Ithaca, NY-based Cornell Lab of Ornithology has researched the lives of birds, educating the public and striving for protection of species and habitat. But the Lab does more than just studyit celebrates birds through song and image, and connects people to birds, opening thousands of eyes to the natural world around us.

    You'll also meet a cheetah with a killer sense of humour, a rhino every man would pay anything NOT to meet , a special leopard, and an apple-addicted elephant! The PERFECT follow up to Msomi & Me, told with candour, passion, and great humor.

    50 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year

    Featuring the extraordinary strategies of a huge range of predators, from cheetahs and African wild dogs to killer whales and polar bears, these images and stories will revolutionise what you thought you knew about life in the wild.Whether through speed, stamina or complex subterfuge, each creature’s strategy is honed to its environment – and remarkable adaptations mean that the hunted often can, and do, outwit their hunters. It’s a life-or-death duel where each animal’s skills are stretched to the very limit.The final chapter of the book goes behind the scenes to recount the adventures of the production teams as they themselves stalk their quarry – and are sometimes stalked – to discover never-before-seen species and previously undocumented behaviours. From the producers of Frozen Planet and Planet Earth, The Hunt reveals in astonishing detail the most surprising and significant events in the natural world.

    Featuring breath-taking images of the natural world, this gorgeous collection of full-page photographs, carefully curated by Lonely Planet's photography experts, brings the world's wildest corners into your home. Incredible and majestic wildlife spectacles and natural phenomena are spellbindingly on display in this beautiful, no-expense-spared hardback.Authors: Lonely PlanetAbout Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' -- Fairfax Media'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York TimesLonely Planet guides have won the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

    The Altai Kazakhs are unique in their tradition of using golden eagles to hunt on horseback. The lifestyle of these hunters, known in Kazakh as burtkitshis, is changing rapidly, and over the last few years the award-winning photographer Palani Mohan has spent time with these men and their families, documenting a culture under threat.The special bond between a hunter and his eagle begins when the hunter takes an eagle pup from a nest high on the rock face. The pups are usually about four years old (a golden eagle can live to 30 years of age). It’s important that the pup has learned to hunt and is not still dependent on her mother; but neither can she be too old nor experienced, or she will not learn to live with humans. The hunters take only female pups from the nest, as females are larger and more powerful and aggressive than the males. Adult female golden eagles can have a wingspan of up to 9 feet, and weigh over 15 pounds.The eagle pup gradually learns to accept food from the hunter, and once trust has been established, the hunter begins to train the bird. The hunters describe the eagle as part of their family. The eagle takes pride of place in the home most of the time except during the day in the summer months or the warmest part of the day in the winter months. While all the men in the family handle the eagle, only the man who took her from the nest hunts with her.Hunting takes place in winter, when temperatures can plummet to minus 40 degrees Farenheit. The birds are carried in swaddling, which the hunters claim keeps them both warm and calm. The strong bond between hunter and eagle is strengthened by the amount of time they spend together. Hunting trips can last many days, as the hunter and eagle trek up to a mountain ridge to obtain a good view across the landscape. Once the prey – usually a fox – is spotted, the hunter charges towards it to flush it into the open, then releases the eagle to make the kill. Hunters traditionally wear fur coats made from the skins of the prey their eagle has caught.The relationship between hunter and eagle typically lasts six to eight years, then the eagle is released back into the wild to breed. One hunter tells Mohan: ‘You love them as your own, even when you set them free at the end.’In his book, which comprises an introductory essay and 90 dramatic duotone images, Mohan explains how the burkitshis are slowing dying out. Rather than endure the brutal winters, their children choose to move to the capital, Ulan Bator, for a better way of life. There are also fewer golden eagles in the Altai Mountains. Although the ‘Golden Eagle Festival’ takes place every October to showcase the ancient art of hunting with eagles, attracting tourists from across the world, there are only between 50 and 60 ‘true’ hunters left. This book is therefore a timely, important record of these proud men and their magnificent eagles in a remote, unforgiving part of the planet.

    Instantly, the courageous critters spring into action, risking their own lives to rescue any animal they see suffering at the hands of humans. What the team doesn’t know is just how rampant this violence really is, and soon their exciting rescue missions turn shockingly dangerous and deadly. Will they succeed in saving the animals of the world from humans’ brutality, or will they fall victim to the powerful system of abuse they’re trying so desperately to end? Persimmon Takes On Humanity is the thrilling first novel in The Enlightenment Adventures, and for anyone who loved the intensity of The Hunger Games, the social commentary of The Jungle, and the heart of Charlotte’s Web, this will be your new favorite book.

    If the rumors are true, pirates even buried a treasure or two on the island’s sandy shores. For years, people have searched for those scurvy dogs’ lost booty.Bennett and Lola are dogs, but they sure aren’t scurvy. They’re Chihuahuas who live a hilarious double life: pampered pets that dabble in solving mysteries. They’ve made a new friend, Bonnie, the young girl tasked with looking after them. When the dogs and Bonnie help rescue a pod of beached dolphins, they meet a fisherman who shows them the “pirate verses,” an old set of clues about the buried treasure’s location. They then join forces with twelve-year-old Jordy to find the loot.Unfortunately, the dogs and kids aren’t the only ones seeking the treasure. Pell, the selfish descendant of pirates himself, will stop at nothing to get the gold. But when Pell’s greed gets everyone into hot water, Bonnie, Jordy, and the pups must rely on other animal friends from the sea and sky for help.Where Dolphins Dive is a middle-grade fantasy adventure that’s full of laughs, thrills, and North Carolina history.

    From time immemorial people have been drawn to the beach to collect practical resources as well as mysterious objects that have fuelled myth and folklore - it is our inherent hunter-gatherer instinct.The beach strandline is also a wildlife habitat, home to a unique community of plants and animals, many found nowhere else. They create a rich and ever-changing oasis of life in the otherwise harsh environment of the beach.Whether you are a seasoned beachcomber, a casual visitor or an enthusiastic naturalist, this book is for you. It will satisfy your curiosity about each treasure found cast up on the beach, be it a pretty seashell or an exotic ocean voyager.​​​​​​​- Descriptions of common and rare beach finds, both natural and man-made- Clear photographs showing objects and species as found on the strandline and in their natural habitat - Suggestions for family activities related to beachcombing- A comprehensive account of the living flora and fauna of the beach strandline- Information on threats and conservation measures for the marine and coastal environment

    Travelling the length and breadth of the UK, and meeting up with experts along the way, he tracks down secretive and scarce mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects living on the brink ranging from the iconic Scottish Wildcat and surreal Spiny Seahorse to the striking Golden Oriole, outlandish Wart-biter Cricket and sinister Black Rat. Few and Far Between celebrates the diversity on our doorstep and highlights the natural treasures we risk losing.

    Now expanded to include species found in Angola, Zambia and Malawi, it has also been extensively revised to include: • the most recent research and taxonomy• revised distribution maps and many new images• colour-coded grouping of families• spoor and size icons• skull photographs, grouped for easy comparison• detailed descriptions of each species, offering insight into key identification characters, typical behaviour, preferred habitat, food choice, reproduction and longevity.

    Twenty-two thousand years ago, someone carved a life-sized image of Atlantic salmon in the floor of a cave in southern France. Salmon were painted on rocks in Norway and Sweden. The salmon’s effortless leaping and ability to survive in both river and sea led the Celts to mythologize the salmon as holder of all mysterious knowledge, gained by consuming the nine hazelnuts of wisdom that fell into the Well of Segais. The President's Salmon presents a rich cultural and biological history of the Atlantic salmon and the salmon fishery, primarily revolving around the Penobscot River, the last bastion for the salmon in America and a key location for the preservation of the species.