Hal Markowitz has been an internationally popular lecturer and consultant on environmental enrichment for four decades. Enriching Animal Lives is chock full of recipes for enriching lives of a wide range of animals along with a generous sprinkling of personal experiences. This book will be of interest to those working in zoos, aquariums, wild animal parks, and animal rehabilitation facilities. It will also be of interest to all animal lovers, especially those with companion animals and scientists conducting research with captive animals. A detailed discussion concerning what represents meaningful environmental enrichment and the need to empower animals is provided in early chapters. The final chapter is a brief autobiographical description of events that led the author to pursue a career in science and teaching, and concludes with why that has been so enriching for him.

"Magnificent . . . A joyful, hopeful book. Safina gives us ample reasons to be enthralled by this astonishing ancient animal--and ample reasons to care.""--Los Angeles Times" As Carl Safina's compelling natural history adventure makes clear, the fate of the leatherback turtle is in our hands. The distressing decline of these ancient sea turtles in Pacific waters and their surprising recovery in the Atlantic illuminate the results--both positive and negative--of our interventions and the lessons that can be applied, globally, to restore the oceans and their creatures.
We accompany award-winning natural history expert Safina and his colleagues as they track leatherbacks across the world's oceans and onto remote beaches of every continent, including a thrilling journey from Monterey, California, to nesting grounds in Papua, New Guinea. Throughout, in his peerless prose, Safina captures the delicate interaction between these gentle giants and the humans who are playing a significant role in their survival.

"The reference source that biologists interested in West Indian herpetofauna have been waiting for."--Steven Reichling, curator, Memphis Zoo "A state-of-the-art compendium. The West Indies is one of the hottest of the world's biodiversity hot spots and will continue to be a focus of ecological research, now invigorated by this definitive synthesis."--S. Blair Hedges, Pennsylvania State University The West Indies have become a major focus for biologists and conservationists. Its herpetofauna is considered one of the richest and most vulnerable in the world. These fragile natural environments are home to many unique animals that occur only on these islands. Loss of habitat, development of scenic areas for a burgeoning tourist industry, and the introduction of invasive species have contributed to an already tenuous situation for many of the region's native species. This volume summarizes the natural history of each of the more than seven hundred species of frogs and reptiles that live in the West Indies. Sure to be the starting point for all future research on West Indian amphibians and reptiles, it will be an essential companion to the biologist contemplating or conducting research in the area.

John Hare has made three expeditions to the Mongolian and Chinese Gobi deserts, the first in 1993 with Russian scientists and the second and third with Chinese scientists in 1995 and 1996. The book records the amazing adventures he has experienced on those expeditions and will record details of the 30-day walk on foot in the formidable Kum Tagh sand dunes in the spring of 1997. He is the first recorded foreigner to have crossed the Gashun Gobi from north to south.
The expeditions were primarily concerned with tracking down the mysterious wild Bactrian camel 'camelus bactrianus ferus' which lives in the heartland of the desert and is the ancestor of all domestic Bactrian stock. There are under a thousand left in the world and the wild Bactrian camel is more endangered than the giant Panda.
This is John Hare's magnificent account of a formidable feat of modern exploration.
 

Don Lerch was born and raised in Schuyler County, Illinois. He began coon hunting as a young boy and continued until he was no longer able to go. As a young boy, coon hunting was a necessity for meals, as there were nine other siblings, and the hides were as important because they would provide money for cloths, shoes, groceries or whatever might be needed for the family. Don and his wife Char retired in 2005 to spend more time together. He lost her in 2006 shortly after retirement. Although she was not a coon hunter, she was a rock of support throughout their marriage. The have two children and seven grandchildren. Don published his first book in 2012 and the response was so great for another one, be began gathering stories and went to work again. These stories generate from six different counties, Adams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, McDonough and Schuyler and span from the 1930's till present day. You will read about heartbreaking losses, mule riding, trying to cross the river without a plug in the boat, forgetting the gun, getting lost and some hunts you wish you had been along for the ride. The thrill of the hunt is priceless. Although Don is no longer able to hunt, the "fever" is still there, and as long as their are coon hunters, there will be stories, and he will listen.

A magical link connects all living beings on this planet, and in A Journey into the Soulful Garden, author L.M. Taylor describes her many and varied connections with members of the animal world.

This collection of eleven essays details Taylor's lighthearted adventures and the joy she experiences when interacting with nature's special creatures. Experience a lesson in magic in the story "Henry the Mule Deer" as Taylor describes her attempts to help this animal rid himself of wind chimes that became entangled in his antlers. Read about a lesson in bravery as she rescues Tulip the mallard duck from a month's accidental imprisonment in a drain pipe. Discover the special relationship Taylor has with Salem, a miniature, seven-pound, seventeen-year-old tabby cat.

Infused with a deep love and admiration for wildlife, these first person stories serve to awaken the heart and provide a deeper insight into the heart and soul of nature.