But when she fell in love with renowned conservationist Lawrence Anthony her life took an unexpected turn. Lawrence died in 2012 and Francoise was left to run Thula Thula without him, even though she knew very little about conservation. She was short on money, poachers were capitalizing on the chaos of Lawrence’s death, and one of their elephants was charging Land Rovers on game drives and terrifying guests. How Francoise survived and Thula Thula thrived is beautifully described in this charming, funny and poignant book. If you loved Lawrence's The Elephant Whisperer, or just want to spend time with some remarkable animals, then you won’t want to miss this sparkling book.

    Isolated at her family's wildlife refuge in northern Georgia, Raven longs to escape. Instead, she spends her days shoveling manure for bears and wolves—until her father contracts the deadly Hydra virus. Desperate to help him, Raven journeys into town to get medicine, only to discover the outside world is collapsing into chaos. There are no police, no laws, and no hospitals. No one is coming to help. The wildlife refuge she once resented now offers sanctuary—plenty of food, shelter, and the safety of electrified fences. Using the skills her father taught her, Raven knows how to survive. But the threat is just beginning. The electrified fences may be failing. Even worse, a dangerous gang tracks Raven back to the refuge. And they'll stop at nothing to take what she has... Raven can run. Or she can stand her ground, risking everything to defend the animals—and her home.

    I was also a fraud, a liar and a cheat. Those lists of birds seen, ticked off like Don Juan’s conquests? A tissue of lies. One hundred and thirty species? More like 60. Dotterel, firecrest, smew? Give me a break.So when I revived my dormant mania early this year, I decided to right my childhood wrongs, even though they were born of good intentions. I would go birdwatching again. I would keep track of the birds I saw. I would not lie. To spice things up, and to guard against enthusiasm fatigue, I set myself a target. Six hundred and one bird species have been recorded in Britain. I would aim to see 200 of them in a year. A doddle, surely?Not so fast, man-cub.Half of the 601 are described as ‘rare’. One, the great auk, is extinct. That leaves 300. My friend Andrew is a proper and active birder. In his best year he clocked up 206. I’m neither proper nor active. What chance do I have? Slim to none. But I like a challenge.Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? is the story of that challenge. But it’s not just about birds. It’s about family, music, nostalgia; hearing the stories of strangers; the nature of obsession and obsession with nature. It’s about finding adventure in life when you twig it’s shorter than you thought; losing and regaining contact with the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world; the humiliation of being a professional musician who doesn’t recognise the song of a blue tit. It’s about the first time my parents heard me say ‘fuck’.It’s a book for anyone who has ever seen a small brown bird and wondered what it was, or tried to make sense of a world in which we can ask ‘What's that bird?’ and ‘What's for lunch?’ and get the same answer. It’s also a long overdue thank you letter to my parents.

    What makes this cat, the fourth carnivore in the food chain -- just ahead of humans - so resilient and resourceful? And what can conservationists and wild life managers learn from them about the web of biodiversity that is in desperate need of protection? Their story is fascinating for the lessons it can afford the protection of all species in times of dire challenge and decline.

    In this book the Dutchers reflect on the virtues they observed in wolf society and behavior. Each chapter exemplifies a principle, such as kindness, teamwork, playfulness, respect, curiosity, and compassion. Their heartfelt stories combine into a thought-provoking meditation on the values shared between the human and the animal world. Occasional photographs bring the wolves and their behaviors into absorbing focus.

    A young male lion cub seems to sport a rebellious mohawk; a chimpanzee adopts a pensive pose; a curious duckling cocks his head at the camera lens and flaps his wings. The featured animals cover a wide range, from birds such as the African crane, cockatoos, flamingos, and roosters, to big cats such as tigers, cheetahs, and leopards, to Arabian horses, bulls, and Longhorn sheep, among many others. Bird and animal lovers will be drawn to the powerful and emotionally engaging images that seem to reveal the individual character of the other animals that share the Earth with us. Elegantly designed and packaged, this book will be the perfect gift and addition to the home of any lover of animals or fine photography.

    Orioles, treepies, woodpeckers, king¬fishers, spotted owlets and parakeets also call it home, and the resident rat snake regularly sheds his 7-foot-long skin below the expansive banyan tree shading our house.’ - Rom Whitaker My Husband and Other Animals, Janaki Lenin’s first book, was lauded by readers and critics alike. With this compilation, she returns with more stories of the quirky and wonderful life she shares with her husband, Rom Whitaker, and an array of wild creatures—from leopards to king cobras. Janaki’s enthusiasm and passion for the wild finds a voice in the pages of her book, while her curiosity about the world she inhabits infuses these lighted-hearted, yet thought-provoking stories with unique insight. As much a chronicle of Janaki and Rom’s unusual life as it is a wild and eventful journey, My Husband and Other Ani¬mals 2: Wildlife Adventures Continue is a witty, delightful read.

    This powerful collection of pictures features all the winning photographs from the 2018 competition. The collection represents the work of many international photographers, both professionals and amateurs. The photographs are chosen by an international jury for their artistic merit and originality, from categories that represent a diversity of natural subjects. The range of styles is diverse, as is the genre of photography, including action, macro, underwater, landscape, or environmental reportage. Each photograph is accompanied by an extended caption and there is an introduction by one of the world's most respected nature photographers.

    In 1872, the first instalments of Walter Buller's A History of the Birds of New Zealand appeared. When completed, this became a landmark publishing event that described the place of New Zealand's birds in the Maori world, the first encounters Europeans had with our birds, the arguments over their classification, and provided a snapshot of their status at the time. Through Buller's books, the rest of the world got to know about New Zealand's unusual and distinctive birds, and New Zealanders, too, began to appreciate them. Geoff Norman's Birdstories carries Buller's publishing legacy through to the present day. He covers a range of our bird families and individual species, and provides an up-to-date picture of how these birds are regarded by both Maori and Pakeha, the backstory of their discovery, and their current conservation status. Extensively illustrated with historic illustrations and contemporary artwork, this is a beautiful, comprehensive publication that will help New Zealanders realise what a taonga we have in our birds.

    The essays, which are set in the industrial Midwest, are organized by the major arcana of Tarot cards. The chapter on The Fool tells of a bear harassed by car traffic; the Magician chapter follows a trout swimming through industrial rivers; the High Priestess section shows how climate change is threatening the habitat of the snowy owl. Exploring natural history through the Tarot provides readers with a new perspective on a regional landscape often dismissed as unremarkable, as well as our remarkable place in it.

    They live in a spectacular variety of habitats and signal each one's ecological health. Birds - with their brilliant plumage, their trills, and their flight - nurture our souls.

    The lion was one of dozens slain each year in Zimbabwe, which legally licenses the hunting of big cats. But Cecil’s death sparked unprecedented global outrage, igniting thousands of media reports about the peculiar circumstances surrounding this hunt. At the center of the controversy was Dr. Andrew Loveridge, the zoologist who had studied Cecil for eight years. In Lion Hearted, Loveridge pieces together, for the first time, the fascinating life and murky details of this beloved lion’s slaying. In the tradition of Born Free and Gorillas in the Mist, Lion Hearted chronicles Loveridge’s long acquaintance with a host of charismatic lions that his team has tracked, often from birth to death. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Loveridge learned to love predators at the knee of his father, an eminent herpetologist who stored baby crocodiles in the family bathtub. After earning his doctorate at Oxford, he seized an invitation to study the lions of Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park. There he meets Stumpy Tail, who, despite her name, has the dignity of the Queen of the Animal Kingdom; Dynamite, a venerable coalition leader who, muscled out by younger males, sets off on an incredible thirty-seven-day, 137-mile journey to find a new home; and Kataza, who escapes another lion’s claws, and whom Loveridge twice saves from death at the hands of humans. And, of course, there is Cecil. Dethroned in an epic battle, he forms an alliance with a former rival. He also becomes a favorite of photographers and tourists—until the fateful night when a Minnesota dentist and his hunting guide entice the trusting cat with a free meal. Loveridge unravels the complexities of lion society and the dangers the cats face both within their ranks and from the outside world. Despite their ruthless reputation, lions can form deep emotional bonds—females live in prides, a sisterhood of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts that can exhibit military precision when hunting in formation; males band together in coalitions to vie for control of territory and the female prides. They also display a wide range of emotional behavior, including mourning the loss of their mates, partners, and cubs. Africa’s lion population is estimated to have shrunk by 43 percent in the last twenty years. There may now be as few as 20,000 wild lions across the entire continent—far fewer than the number of elephants. While deploring the killing of lions for sport, Loveridge does not believe that banning trophy hunting, by itself, will halt the decline of Africa’s lion populations. He sees greater threats in human population growth, the loss of habitat to agriculture, and the illegal trade in lion body parts for use in traditional medicines. And he offers concrete proposals for averting the lion’s extinction. More than a gripping detective story, Lion Hearted is an exploration of humanity’s relationship with the natural world and an attempt to keep this majestic species from disappearing. “Lions are one of the most beloved animals on the planet,” Loveridge observes. “They are the national symbol of no fewer than fifteen countries. . . . Surely, we can think of a better way to save the wild animals we love besides killing them.”

    

    More admirable than the books' rigorous science, however, is that they are wholly suitable for a lay audience, including student readers from high school on. The books have been adopted as classroom texts and assigned as required reading at the university level and are on the references shelves of many practicing entomologists.In Beetles: The Natural History and Diversity of Coleoptera, Marshall has again applied his deep knowledge of the insect world. Comprehensive and packed with 27 pages of richly illustrated keys and 4,500 color illustrations, it provides the reader with a colorful and enjoyable introduction to the natural history of a huge group of organisms, along with an overview of the diversity of fascinating families included in the group. The subject of this book is an enormous one, since the beetles, or Coleoptera, include almost 400,000 named species.Marshall opens with a description of what makes a beetle a beetle, and then introduces the natural history of the order with copious examples and explanations.Part one of the book includes:Life Histories of Beetles: Form and Function: Eggs; Larvae; Pupae, Prepupae and Cocoons; Adults; Courtship and Mating Behaviors Defense and Deception: Tanks, Tricks and Coleopteran; Chemical Warfare; Brilliance and Bioluminescence in the Beetles Freshwater and Marine Beetles: Freshwater beetles; Marine beetles Beetle Associations with Fungi, Dung and Carrion: Beetles and Fungi; Beetles and Dung; Beetles and Dead Bodies Beetles, Plants and Plant Products: Beetles and Flowers; Phytophagy and Beetle Diversity; Aposematic Beetles and Their Plant Hosts; Beetles as Agricultural and Garden Pests; Beetles and Biological Control of Weeds; Beetles and Trees Beetles and Other Animals: Dangerous Beetles; Coleoptera and Culture; Beetles Indoors; Rare, Endangered and Threatened Beetles; Beetles, Birds and Wild Mammals; Beetles and Other Invertebrates.Part two of Beetles is a guided tour of the diversity of the order, with fascinating stops for all of the world's 180 or so families of beetles as well as most of the significant subfamilies. Thousands of photos, almost all taken in the field by the author, are used to capture the range of form and function in each family, with pages of examples of the popular groups -- such as fireflies, tiger beetles, jewel beetles -- but also with unique photographs of little-known groups ranging from long-lipped beetles to the rarest rove beetles. Essential information about importance, range, behavior and biology is provided for each group, and easily used photographic keys to most families are provided for those wishing to use the book as an identification guide.The profusely illustrated keys in Beetles, linked to the unprecedented photographic coverage of the world's beetle families and subfamilies, enable readers to identify most families of beetles quickly and accurately, and to readily access information about each family as well as hundreds of distinctive genera and species.Like its companion titles, Insects and Flies, Beetles will be welcomed by the scientific, academic and naturalist communities, including the next generation of students of entomology.

    The 60-plus species of snakes found in Sean P. Graham's American Snakes have this ancestral journey to thank for their ubiquity, diversity, and beauty. Although many people fear them, snakes are as much a part of America's rich natural heritage as redwoods, bald eagles, and grizzly bears. Found from the vast Okefenokee Swamp to high alpine meadows, from hardwood canopies to the burning bottom of the Grand Canyon, these ultimate vertebrates are ecologically pivotal predators and quintessential survivors.In this revelatory and engaging meditation on American snakes, Graham, a respected herpetologist and gifted writer,- explains the everyday lives of American snakes, from their daily routines and seasonal cycles to their love lives, hunting tactics, and defensive repertoires- debunks harmful myths about snakes and explores their relationship with humans- highlights the contribution of snakes to the American wilderness- tells tales of "snake people"--important snake biologists with inspiring careersNeither a typical field guide nor an exhaustive reference, American Snakes is instead a fascinating study of the suborder Serpentes. Brimming with intriguing and unusual stories--of hognose snakes that roll over and play dead, blindsnakes with tiny vestigial lungs, rainbow-hued dipsadines, and wave-surfing sea-snakes--the text is interspersed with scores of gorgeous full-color images of snakes, from the scary to the sublime. This proud celebration of a diverse American wildlife group will make every reader, no matter how skeptical, into a genuine snake lover.

      In this trio of delightful memoirs, British wildlife preservation pioneer and national bestselling author Gerald Durrell recounts the ups and downs he faces in transforming his lifelong dream of creating a new kind of zoo into a reality.  A Zoo in My Luggage: In 1957, Durrell and his wife travel to the British Cameroons in West Africa to begin assembling his menagerie. The greater challenge proves to be in safely transporting their exotic animals back to Britain and finding a home for them.   “Animals come close to being Durrell’s best friends. . . . He writes about them with style, verve, and humor.” —Time  The Whispering Land: On an eight-month journey in South America to expand his menagerie, Durrell and his wife travel across windswept Patagonian shores and through tropical forests in the Argentine, encountering fur seals, ocelots, penguins, parrots, pumas, and more.   “An amusing writer who transforms this Argentine backcountry into a particularly inviting place.” —San Francisco Chronicle  Menagerie Manor: In 1959, on the grounds of an old manor house on the Channel Island of Jersey, Durrell finally opens the Jersey Zoo—now known as the Durrell Wildlife Park. Along with the satisfaction of providing a safe habitat for rare and endangered species come the trials of operating a fledgling zoo, including overdrawn bank accounts and escaped animals.   “No one can be funnier than Mr. Durrell in relating his own adventures or the antics of the claw and paw set.” —The Christian Science Monitor

    They include some of the most exceptional underwater images of animal behavior ever taken. The collection represents the work of more than 50 international photographers and decades of diving experience. Accompanied by the stories of how they were taken and the behavior they revealed, they give us a glimpse into a world few of us would otherwise ever get to see.

    This book is the definitive synthesis of these epic journeys as seen through the eyes of the biologists and wildlife managers who have studied the ungulates, or hoofed mammals, of Wyoming. A century and a half ago, the push of western expansion persecuted these great herds, and some were lost. In the early twentieth century, a new ethic of wildlife conservation helped big game populations recover as the West was settled. Today many of these herds again roam Wyoming’s mountains and plains. Now for the first time, scientists armed with new satellite technology are discovering and describing ungulate migrations in detail never seen before. Each spread in this full color book investigates an ecological, historical, or conservation aspect of migration through clear and compelling maps, graphics, and photos. Using a narrative style that is both accessible and scientifically rigorous, this atlas tells the nuanced story of wildlife migration, the scientists who are studying it, and the conservationists who are working to keep wild migrations flowing across western landscapes. Wild Migrations is the perfect library addition for any reader interested in wildlife and landscapes of the American West, including hunters, students, biologists, land managers, decision-makers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

    Just a few are common house and garden pests; thousands more harmless species live hidden in woods and meadows. This comprehensive guide of more than 1,800 common species is the best tool for identifying and appreciating these ubiquitous insects.   With helpful tips and techniques for observing moths, range maps and graphs showing when and where to see them, and keys to identifying even the tough species, the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America provides everything an amateur or experienced moth-watcher needs.

    Their part in the kea conservation effort is essential and both Ajax and Corey can rightly be called conservation heroes.This heart-warming story describes how Ajax was trained to be one of the very few kea detection dogs in the world and tells of his various escapades in the unpredictable wilds of the steep back-country, including flying in helicopters, working in blizzards, heavy rain and dense fog, escaping from angry wasps and sleeping out in the bitter cold.The strong connection between Ajax and Corey has proved vital to their survival and the important work that they do. Ajax is slowing down now and soon his high-country days will be over.