Amid the historical decimation of species around the globe, a new way into the language of loss An endling is the last known individual of a species; when that individual dies, the species becomes extinct. These "last individuals" are poignant characters in the stories that humans tell themselves about today's Anthropocene. In this evocative work, Lydia Pyne explores how discussion about endlings-how we tell their histories-draws on deep traditions of storytelling across a variety of narrative types that go well beyond the science of these species' biology or their evolutionary history. Endlings provides a useful and thoughtful discussion of species concepts: how species start and how (and why) they end, what it means to be a "charismatic" species, the effects of rewilding, and what makes species extinction different in this era. From Benjamin the thylacine to Celia the ibex to Lonesome George the Galapagos tortoise, endlings, Pyne shows, have the power to shape how we think about grief, mourning, and loss amid the world's sixth mass extinction.

A journey through unexplored spaces that foreground new ways of inhabiting the urban   One of the fundamental dimensions of urbanization is its radical transformation of nature. Today domestic animals make up more than twice the biomass of people on the planet, and cities are replete with nonhuman life. Yet current accounts of the urban remain resolutely anthropocentric. Lively Cities departs from conventions of urban studies to argue that cities are lived achievements forged by a multitude of entities, drawing attention to a suite of beings—human and nonhuman—that make up the material politics of city making. From macaques and cattle in Delhi to the invasive parakeet colonies in London, Maan Barua examines the rhythms, paths, and agency of nonhumans across the city. He reconceptualizes several key themes in urban thought, including infrastructure, the built environment, design, habitation, and everyday practices of dwelling and provides a critical intervention in animal and urban studies. Generating fresh conversations between posthumanism, postcolonialism, and political economy, Barua reveals how human and nonhuman actors shape, integrate, subsume, and relate to urban space in fascinating ways. Through novel combinations of ethnography and ethology, and focusing on interlocutors that are not the usual suspects animating urban theory, Barua’s work considers nonhuman lifeworlds and the differences they make in understanding urbanicity. Lively Cities is an agenda-setting intervention, ultimately proposing a new grammar of urban life.

Gorillas, the largest of the apes inhabiting our planet, have been a source of fear, awe, and inspiration to humans. In this book, James L. Newman brings a lifetime of study of Africa to his compelling story of the rich and varied interaction between gorillas and humans since earliest contact. He illuminates the complex relationship over time through the interlinked themes of discovery, exploitation, understanding, and continuing survival. Tragically, the number of free-living gorillas-facing habitat loss, disease, and poaching-has declined dramatically over the course of the past century, and the future of the few that remain is highly uncertain. At the same time, those in zoos and sanctuaries now lead much more secure lives than they did earlier. Newman follows this transition, highlighting the roles played by key individuals, both humans and gorillas. Among the former have been adventurers, opportunists, writers, and scientists. The latter include real gorillas, such as Gargantua and Koko, and fictional ones, notably King Kong and Mighty Joe Young. This thoughtful and engaging book helps us understand how our image of gorillas has been both distorted and clarified through culture and science for centuries and how we now control the destiny of these magnificent great apes.

Eighth-Century Adventure for Twenty-First Century Children In this exciting conclusion to Peter Ward's epic Viking Trilogy, Eric Bignose, bravest of the young Viking rebels, embarks on a dangerous journey. Together with Beowulf, his rescued mystical bear cub, Eric confronts the legendary demon dog, Black Shuck. But in so doing, he brings a curse upon his adopted Saxon village, and the villagers banish him to the wild. Yet Eric's loyal Viking comrades have not forgotten him. They rally to their friend's side and sail to Orkney, the islands north of the Scottish mainland. Here the young warriors avoid a sea witch's whirlpool, huge whales, and angry rock-tossing giants. When their longboat is wrecked by alluring mermaids, the youngsters are taken captive in a dark and dismal sea cave. All hope seems lost. But Beowulf and his extraordinary Merman friend, the Murrough of Scottish legend, may have the final say in their fate. Will Eric and his friends survive or is this the end of their journey-and their lives? A thrilling ride for young and old alike, Eric and the Mystical Bear will transport you to another era filled with adventure, danger, and courage!

Tabby cat or toucan? Airedale terrier or Angora rabbit? Python or Parakeet? If you didn't have a pet as a child, you probably wanted one. Pets features a huge range of pets from everyday pets such as cats and dogs to exotic pets such as tropical fish, toucans and terrapins, from cute mice to formidable pythons, from energetic rabbits to docile tortoises to thoroughbred horses. Part of the highly successful Mini Encyclopedia series, Pets includes 300 pets from around the world, offering a wealth of fascinating information on the background, breeding and natural habitat of these animals. With a page and outstanding colour illustration given to each pet, and specification boxes detailing on the origins, appearance, size, diet and lifespan of each animal, Pets is an easy-to-use pocket reference book for anyone interested in domesticated animals.

A collection of first-hand accounts of the park's famous residents by explorers and hunters, naturalists, and tourists (including one US president T. Roosevelt), from 1880 to 1950. The editor, a Yellowstone bear expert, provides commentary and context. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

True Tales of Encounters with Bears Bear Encounters is a collection of stories about the run-ins everyday people have with bears. From the one about the black bear at the cabin that was chased away by the fifteen-pound family dog, to the bear that harmlessly wandered through a Boy Scout camp, these brief and often funny encounters capture the true nature of bears. More than 90 stories have been collected from fans of the North American Bear Center. They include a variety of tales, from routine encounters in backyards, on porches and driveways to sometimes funny and challenging experiences. The stories are grouped into sections around common myths and include anecdotes about how bear encounters have changed people's views for the better. Read these stories, and you'll never see bears the same way again.

The Intersectionality of Critical Animal, Disability, and Environmental Studies: Toward Eco-ability, Justice, and Liberation is an interdisciplinary collection of theoretical writings on the intersectional liberation of nonhuman animals, the environment, and those with disabilities. As animal consumption raises health concerns and global warming causes massive environmental destruction, this book interweaves these issues and more. This important cutting-edge book lends to the rapidly growing movement of eco-ability, a scholarly field and activist movement influenced by environmental studies, disability studies, and critical animal studies, similar to other intersectional fields and movements such as eco-feminism, environmental justice, food justice, and decolonization. Contributors to this book are in the fields of education, philosophy, sociology, criminology, rhetoric, theology, anthropology, and English. If you are interested in social justice, inclusion, environmental protection, disability rights, and animal advocacy this is a must read book.

Find out all about these ancient reptiles that have existed since the time of the dinosaurs. Learn what makes them such effective hunters, how they swim and communicate with each other. Watch them hunt, fight, reproduce and look after their young. Discover how they have been worshipped, persecuted and finally protected by humans. Learn to identify cayman, alligators gavials, saltwater crocodiles and other reptiles.

A fully updated second edition of this user-friendly field guide to the mammals of Borneo, covering Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan. The book gives descriptions of all 247 land mammals and 30 marine species. These are superbly illustrated in 141 colour plates. Each plate is accompanied by species descriptions covering taxonomy, size, range, distribution, habits and status. Distribution is shown by detailed thumbnail maps. There are 7 habitat plates, 12 regional maps, fast-find graphic indexes and a full overview of vegetation, climate and ecology.

Tracking Made Easy-from the Backyard to the Backwoods You've seen animal tracks while hiking, camping, or even in your backyard. Now learn what made them. Animal Tracks of the Midwest Field Guide by expert tracker Jonathan Poppele features the tracks of more than 95 species of mammals found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This new edition spotlights more species-including common birds and reptiles-as well as updated track illustrations, photographs, and information. Book Features: Animals of the Midwest: More than 95 mammal species, plus common birds and reptiles Designed for your success: Realistic track illustrations and quick identification tips Fact-filled information: Scat photos and descriptions of other signs that animals leave behind Accessible and informative: Easy enough for beginners yet detailed enough for experienced trackers Gait illustrations: Depictions and descriptions for each animal, from walking to trotting and hopping to bounding Species are organized into groups, based on similarities in track appearance and then by track size. So it's easy to find the tracks in the book once you see them in nature. Bring this handy guide on your next outing, and leave a book at the cabin. You'll be surprised how often you encounter animal tracks-and how much you can learn from them!

Britain is home to almost 100 species of mammals. Many of them are nocturnal, almost all are difficult to see, and most people - even very keen natural history enthusiasts - struggle to see more than about 10 a year - rabbits, foxes, a few deer, perhaps. So can one ordinary young family manage 50 in just one year? Dominic Couzens' colourful and amusing narrative charts the peaks and troughs of one such year, as he and his wife, Carolyn, take up the challenge - with Emily (5) and Samuel (3) in tow - scouring the length and breadth of the British Isles in search of everything from Weasels and Stoats to Edible Dormice, Killer Whales to Wallabies. Featuring grumpy bats and psychopathic mice, a host of eccentric human characters, and the usual holiday stresses and family squabbles "My Family and 50 Other Animals" is a unique and uniquely charming blend of travel, natural history, and family that will amuse, inform and inspire its readers in equal measure.

An Inspiring Memoir, for Fans of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Frans De Waal.

In her enchanting memoir, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, tells the remarkable story from her animal-loving childhood to her career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals. She is also the defender of people as a groundbreaking promoter of human public health and an advocate for revolutionary integrated approaches to saving our planet. In an increasingly interconnected world, animal and human health alike depend on sustainable solutions and Dr. Gladys has developed an innovative approach to conservation among the endangered Mountain Gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and their human neighbors.

Walking with Gorillas takes the reader on an incredible personal journey with Dr. Gladys, from her early days as a student in Uganda, enduring the assassination of her father during civil war, to her veterinarian education in England to establishing the first veterinary department for the Ugandan government to founding one of the first organizations in the world that enables people to coexist with wildlife through improving the health and wellbeing of both. Her award-winning approach reduced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on critically endangered mountain gorillas.

In the face of discrimination and a male dominated world, one woman’s passion and determination to build a brighter future for the local wildlife and human community offers inspiration and insights into what is truly possible for our planet when we come together.

Do bear attacks touch people in the far-back recesses of their psyches? Reach latent ancestral memories of cave days when humans were potential prey? Indeed, there are those who say their nightmares involved bears before they ever saw one, either in the flesh or in the movies. Unfortunately, these nightmares all too often come true. People perform almost superhuman feats in their fight to survive bear attacks. Jim Marriott, for instance, was attacked and
mauled by a grizzly while carving out a moose head. When playing dead didn't work, he slammed his skinning knife into the attacker's neck. The surprised bear backed off only to charge again, cut his tongue trying to bite at the knife, and got the knife sunk into the
same place. By the third charge, Marriott was on his feet despite chewed buttocks and damaged legs. This time the bear left with the knife still sticking in his neck. "In bear attacks, the human survival instinct is extraordinary," says a doctor who sees the terrible punishment victims of bear attacks live through. "And equally amazing are the heroics and seemingly superhuman efforts of those around the victims."
BEAR ATTACKS OF THE CENTURY gathers together these stories of courage,
chronicling the most horrific encounters between bears and people. With expert advice on avoiding attacks and information that may help both species leave an encounter unscathed, this book is required reading for hikers, hunters, campers, or anyone visiting bear country, and those who want to learn more about these sometimes deadly but always fascinating animals.

The Kaokoveld, one of the world’s most forbidding wastes, is host to an assortment of animals that have found ways of surviving in this hostile environment. Here giraffes go entirely without water and rhinos climb towering mountains in search of that scarce resource.

But most unforgettable of all must be the elephants of the Namib. Witnessing these giants cross bare sand dunes is a once-in-a-lifetime sight, and Prof. Fritz Eloff writes evocatively of their habits and environment.

Giants Of The Desert is a fascinating introduction to this harsh world and its denizens, vividly brought to life in both images and words.

As Steven Meyers writes, an odyssey need not involve a long journey, simply a profound one. First drawn to Lime Creek for its fly fishing, this stream serves as Meyers’s muse in seven transcendent essays that explore journeys in the discovery of self, of home, and what it means to be human. The essays also explore loss and grief, of finding healing in the powerful presence of nature and in the awareness and experience of natural cycles. The tender eloquence of his writing and his compassion for all living things make for a contemplation of place in the tradition of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Desert Solitaire.

Sam Ives's family set up camp in a Utah campground, cooked dinner, cleaned up and packed their gear away, and climbed into their multi-chambered tent to sleep. It was a great end to Father's Day. Eleven-year-old Sam crawled into the smaller compartment of the two-room tent. Without his parents knowing it, Sam ate a granola bar and placed the empty wrapper in a pocket of the tent. Sometime during the night, a black bear entered the campsite, ripped open the side of the tent where Sam slept, grabbed the boy, and killed him. His parents heard a noise and got up to have a look around, but were unable to find Sam. Terrified, they immediately called for help and a search was quickly conducted, where Sam's body was found about 400 yards from the campsite.Unfortunately, Sam's story is not uncommon-every year there are numerous reports of predator attacks on humans, many of them resulting in fatalities. When Man Becomes Prey examines the details of fatal predator attacks on humans, providing an opportunity to learn about the factors and behaviors that led to attacks. The predators profiled in the book include black bears, grizzly bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and gray wolves-the first time all five species have been included in one volume . Compelling narratives of conflicts involving these top predators are accompanied by how-to information for avoiding such clashes.

The alligatorFlorida's most feared, maligned animal. From the time European settlers first stepped onto Florida soil, the alligator has been a target of dread and revulsionand the hunter's gun.

Collected here are true (and tongue in cheek) accounts of alligators and the people who have hunted them, been attacked by them, and tried to save them from extinction. Journey through the Everglades with 1800's Seminoles, experts at stalking and killing gators. Go along with a "Northern girl" as she shoots "my first alligator in my glove and veil." And learn how modern alligator hunters go about their business, which hasn't changed much in the last hundred years or so.

If you like tall tales, you'll love Henry, the alligator-turned-head-waiter who becomes despondent when a pretty New York girl spurns his lovesick advances. Or Algy, the gator who survives a broiling in a furnace by his owners, who happen to think he's already dead and won't mind the heat.

Discover the world of the wolves of Speedwell Forge Wolf Sanctuary, a refuge for displaced wolves located in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Through captivating and, at times, startling images, experience wolves at work and play, and encounter their howls and growls close up. Since 2007, Chuck Rineer has photographed the packs in their natural habitat, displaying a connection and respect for their way of life that few of us will experience. See the hidden details of wolf life, and go behind-the-scenes of this special sanctuary. Learn how the newest wolves are integrated into the packs, something rarely seen by human eyes, and follow all the wolves through the different seasons of the year. Full of stunning photographs, stories, and insights into pack behavior, this is a must-have book for those who have been captivated by wolves from afar and long for the chance to see these majestic animals up close and personal.

When Julius Caesar first brought the giraffe to Europe, the stunned Romans called it "camelopardalis," as a cross between a camel and a leopard? That the Medici organized hunts with cheetahs and staged animal combats in the Roman style? That Josephine Bonaparte was the first to breed black swans in captivity. Or that William Randolph Hearst kept a private preserve at his California home, with animals from all over the world? Exotic animals have entranced and inspired us and this book explores their remarkably influential role in history as among the most advantageous diplomatic gifts, the most cherished royal treasures and the most impressive symbols of power and learning. How did these creatures come to make or break rulers and help shape the definition of what it means to be civilized? These questions are explored through a chain of stories, beginning in ancient Alexandria and traveling through imperial Rome, Renaissance Florence, Aztec Mexico, baroque Prague, Napoleon's France, the robber barons' America, up to the present day, when two sets of giant pandas helped warm frosty relations between two superpowers.

'Endangered means we still have time, but extinction is forever' Grant Fowlds What would drive a man to 'smuggle' rhino horn back into Africa at great risk to himself? This is just one of the situations Grant Fowlds has put himself in as part of his ongoing fight against poaching, in order to prove a link between southern Africa and the illicit, lucrative trade in rhino horn in Vietnam. Shavings of rhino horn are sold as a snake-oil 'cure' for colds or impotence, but a rhino's horn has no magical, medicinal properties. It is for this that rhinoceroses are being killed at an escalating rate that puts the survival of the species in jeopardy. This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife has brought an iconic animal to the brink of extinction. Growing up on a farm in the eastern Cape of South Africa, Grant developed a deep love of nature, turning his back on hunting to focus on saving wildlife of all kinds and the environment that sustains both them and us. He is a passionate conservationist who puts himself on the front line of protecting rhinos in the wild - right now, against armed poachers; but in the longer term, too, through his work with schoolchildren, communities and policymakers.

Mammals come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, from tiny bats and mice to massive elephants and whales. This title introduces a cross-section of southern African mammals - 58 animals illustrated in full colour, along with easy text and visual clues as to the animals' size, their tracks and what they eat.