This is the seventh book in the Al-the-Gator Series. A science book about animals written by an author who has done personal research on these animals. The book has additional information and other books to learn from. An activity section follows the story.

Red wolves are shy, elusive, and misunderstood predators. Until the 1800s, they were common in the longleaf pine savannas and deciduous forests of the southeastern United States. However, habitat degradation, persecution, and interbreeding with the coyote nearly annihilated them. Today, reintroduced red wolves are found only in peninsular northeastern North Carolina within less than 1 percent of their former range. In The Secret World of Red Wolves, nature writer T. DeLene Beeland shadows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's pioneering recovery program over the course of a year to craft an intimate portrait of the red wolf, its history, and its restoration. Her engaging exploration of this top-level predator traces the intense effort of conservation personnel to save a species that has slipped to the verge of extinction. Beeland weaves together the voices of scientists, conservationists, and local landowners while posing larger questions about human coexistence with red wolves, our understanding of what defines this animal as a distinct species, and how climate change may swamp its current habitat.

First published more than a century ago, The Biography of a Grizzly recounts the life of a fictitious bear named Wahb who lived and died in the Greater Yellowstone region. This new edition combines Ernest Thompson Seton's classic tale and original illustrations with historical and scientific context for Wahb's story, providing a thorough understanding of the setting, cultural connections, biology, and ecology of Seton's best-known book. By the time The Biography of a Grizzly was published in 1900, grizzly bears had been hunted out of much of their historical range in North America. The characterization of Wahb, along with Seton's other anthropomorphic tales of American wildlife, helped to change public perceptions and promote conservation. As editors Jeremy M. Johnston and Charles R. Preston remind us, however, Seton's approach to writing about animals put him at the center of the ""Nature-Faker"" controversy of the early twentieth century, when John Burroughs and Theodore Roosevelt, among others, denounced sentimental representations of wildlife. The editors address conservation scientists' continuing concerns about inaccurate depictions of nature in popular culture. Despite its anthropomorphism, Seton's paradoxical book imparts a good deal of insightful and accurate natural history, even as its exaggerations shaped early-twentieth-century public opinion on conservation in often counterproductive ways. By complicating Seton's enthralling tale with scientific observations of grizzly behavior in the wild, Johnston and Preston evaluate the story's accuracy and bring the story of Yellowstone grizzlies into the present day. Preserving the 1900 edition's original design and illustrations, Wahb brings new understanding to an American classic, updating the book for current and future generations.

For centuries, reports of man-eating tigers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have circulated, shrouded in myth and anecdote. This fascinating book documents the "big cat"-human relationship in this area during its 350-year colonial period, re-creating a world in which people feared tigers but often came into contact with them, because these fierce predators prefer habitats created by human interference. Peter Boomgaard shows how people and tigers adapted to each other's behavior, each transmitting this learning from one generation to the next. He discusses the origins of stories and rituals about tigers and explains how cultural biases of Europeans and class differences among indigenous populations affected attitudes toward the tigers. He provides figures on their populations in different eras and analyzes the factors contributing to their present status as an endangered species. Interweaving stories about Malay kings, colonial rulers, tiger charmers, and bounty hunters with facts about tigers and their way of life, the book is an engrossing combination of environmental and micro history.

Focusing on the physiological and behavioral factors that enable a species to live in a harsh seasonal environment, this book places the social biology of marmots in an environmental context. It draws on the results of a forty-year empirical study of the population biology of the yellow-bellied marmot near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in the Upper East River Valley in Colorado, USA. The text examines life-history features such as body-size, habitat use, environmental physiology, social dynamics, and kinship. Considerable new data analyses are integrated with material published over a fifty-year period, including extensive natural history observations, providing an essential foundation for integrating social and population processes. Finally, the results of research into the yellow-bellied marmot are related to major ecological and evolutionary theories, especially inclusive fitness and population regulation, making this a valuable resource for students and researchers in animal behavior, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation.

Almost 95 per cent of the world's tiger attacks occur in the Sundarbans forests of the Gangetic delta. More than 1300 poor Indian villagers, mostly fishermen, have been attacked and eaten by tigers since 1964. Greater numbers have died across the border in Bangladesh. Unnecessarily, says Sudipt Dutta in this first detailed, authoritative work on the Sundarbans man-eating tiger. Dutta challenges the conventional blood-thirsty image and given wisdom on these tigers. Ignorance, lack of research, lack of political and bureaucratic will and the silence of the conservation community has permitted these poor people to die horrific deaths. Dutta has gathered unparalleled quantities of data and spent four years studying the swamp forests to redraw our knowledge of the misunderstood Sundarbans tiger. He then identifies the key issues that leads to man-eater attacks and suggests a prescription to encourage conservation of these unique mangrove forests, increase tiger numbers and curb man-eater tiger attacks in the Sundarbans

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the biology, diet, eating habits and disorders of rabbits. Topics discussed in this volume include the rabbit brain as a model of structural neuroplasticity; a survey on the studies of rabbit prion proteins; the effect of reduced dietary consistency on the fibre properties of rabbit jaw muscles; the use of rabbits to investigate the pathogenesis of disease; the assessment of sperm DNA damage in rabbits using the Halomax assay; nutritional effects of plant oil and seeds in rabbit feeding; and current studies on the aetiology of obstructive dysfunction of the male rabbit urinary bladder.

A comprehensive work intended for anyone maintaining captive bats, Bats in Captivity is the only multi-volume series of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 25 papers by 37 contributing authors. It contains information on the legal aspects of maintaining and shipping bats, plus papers on developing traveling trunks and loan boxes, the use of ultrasonic mobility devices in education programs, conditioning and training bats for public demonstration, their use in outreach programs, and exhibiting bats in zoological institutions. In addition, there is comprehensive information on excluding bats from man-made structures, as well as how bat houses and artificial roosts are constructed and used.

Javelinas and Other Peccaries is certain to be regarded as the definitive source on this family of piglike creatures consisting of three species. Best known in the United States is the javelina, or collared peccary, but the firsthand observations and extensive information provided in this well-illustrated volume, cover all of the species. The javelina extends its range from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina, while the larger white-lipped peccary prefers warmer, moister tropical forests such as from extreme southern Mexico to northern Argentina. The Chacoan, or giant peccary, exists only in a small area known as the Chaco in western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and eastern Bolivia; scientists did not discover this species until 1972. Lyle K. Sowls, who has studied these animals for nearly forty years, examines this family of New World mammals and presents his findings on each species' anatomy and physiology, behavior, reproduction, effects on the environment, diet, reaction to diseases, and habitat. He also includes sonograms of peccary vocalizations representing their social communication. Additionally, Sowls provides a review of management practices, along with recommendations on the management and conservation of peccaries. He suggests that peccaries offer an opportunity for modern wildlife management to help bring better use of forest areas to sustained land use. He reviews the peccaries' importance as a game animal for sport hunters, and includes reports from early explorers and discussion of American Indians' use of the animals. This fully revised book, out of print since 1989, is a useful tool for mammalogists and other wildlife scientists, game specialists, and general readers interested in javelinas in the U.S. Southwest and peccaries throughout the Americas. LYLE K. SOWLS is Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Science in the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the College of Agriculture, University of Arizona.

Second only to humans in adapting to climate extremes, grey wolves once ranged from coast to coast and from Alaska to Mexico in North America. By the early 20th century, government-sponsored predator control programs and declines in prey brought grey wolves to near extinction in 48 states. This book examines the Endangered Species Act as it applies to grey wolves, with a focus on the grey wolf population, recovery, and biology in the United States today.

This book explores the biology, behaviour and health disorders of dogs. Topics discussed include chronic valve disease in dogs; Canine Leishmaniosis; dogs as the reservoirs and transmitters of the rabies virus; dog bites to the external genitalia in children; understanding the human gaze in dogs; strategies for dog rabies control in Bolivia; diagnosis of Brucella Canis by polymerase chain reaction and a study on cardiac enzymes in heart worm infection in dogs.

Mammals in the genus Martes are mid-sized carnivores of great importance to forest ecosystems. This book, the successor to Martens, Sables, and Fishers: Biology and Conservation, provides a scientific basis for management and conservation efforts designed to maintain or enhance the populations and habitats of Martes species throughout the world. The twenty synthesis chapters contained in this book bring together the perspectives and expertise of 63 scientists from twelve countries, and are organized by the five key themes of evolution and biogeography, population biology and management, habitat ecology and management, research techniques, and conservation.

Recent developments in research technologies such as modeling and genetics, biological knowledge about pathogens and parasites, and concerns about the potential effects of global warming on the distribution and status of Martes populations make new syntheses of these areas especially timely. The volume provides an overview of what is known while clarifying initiatives for future research and conservation priorities, and will be of interest to mammalogists, resource managers, applied ecologists, and conservation biologists.

Contributors: Alexei V. Abramov, Russian Academy of Sciences; Jon M. Arnemo, Hedmark University College, Norway; James A. Baldwin, USDA Forest Service; Jeff Bowman, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; Scott M. Brainerd, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Richard N. Brown, Humboldt State University; Steven W. Buskirk, University of Wyoming; Carlos Carroll, Klamath Center for Conservation Research; Joseph A. Cook, University of New Mexico; Samuel A. Cushman, USDA Forest Service; Natalie G. Dawson, University of Montana; John Fryxell, University of Guelph; Mourad W. Gabriel, Integral Ecology Research Center; Jonathan H. Gilbert, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission; Evan H. Girvetz, Nature Conservancy; Rebecca A. Green, USDA Forest Service; Daniel J. Harrison, University of Maine; J. Mark Higley, Hoopa Tribal Forestry; Eric P. Hoberg, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Susan S. Hughes, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Neil R. Jordan, Vincent Wildlife Trust; Anson V. A. Koehler, University of Otago; William B. Krohn, University of Maine; Joshua J. Lawler, University of Washington; Jeffrey C. Lewis, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Eric C. Lofroth, British Columbia Ministry of Environment; Robert A. Long, Montana State University; Paula MacKay, Montana State University; Bruce G. Marcot, USDA Forest Service; Ryuichi Masuda, Hokkaido University; Marina Mergey, Universite de Reims Champagne-Ardenne; Vladimir Monakhov, Russian Academy of Sciences; Takahiro Murakami, Shiretoko Museum; Anne-Mari Mustonen, University of Eastern Finland; Petteri Nieminen, University of Eastern Finland; Cino Pertoldi, Aarhus University; Roger A. Powell, North Carolina State University; Gilbert Proulx, Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd.; Kathryn L. Purcell, USDA Forest Service; Catherine M. Raley, USDA Forest Service; Martin G. Raphael, USDA Forest Service; Luis M. Rosalino, Universidade de Lisboa; Aritz Ruiz-Gonzalez, Universidad del Pais Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea; Hugh D. Safford, USDA Forest Service; Margarida Santos-Reis, Universidade de Lisboa; Joel Sauder, Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game;Michael K. Schwartz, USDA Forest Service; Andrew J. Shirk, University of Washington; Keith M. Slauson, USDA Forest Service; Brian G. Slough, Yukon Territory; Wayne D. Spencer, Conservation Biology Institute; Richard A. Sweitzer, University of California, Berkeley; Craig M. Thompson, USDA Forest Service; Ian D. Thompson, Canadian Forest Service; Richard L. Truex, USDA Forest Service; Emilio Virgos, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Tzeidle N. Wasserman, Northern Arizona University; Greta M. Wengert, Integral Ecology Research Center; J. Scott Yaeger, USDI U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Andrzej Zalewski, Polish Academy of Sciences; William J. Zielinski, USDA Forest Service; Patrick A. Zollner, Purdue University"

A comprehensive work intended for anyone maintaining captive bats. Bats in Captivity is the only multi-volume series of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 26 papers by 22 contributing authors. It contains a comprehensive discussion on nutrition, as well as dietary information for bats that eat insects, fruit, nectar, blood, fish and other vertebrates. Other subjects include methods for rearing insects, methods for collecting wild insects, environmental enrichment, roosting ecology, and environment and housing considerations for all bat groups, plus much more.

State of the knowledge overview of identifying wolf tracks and reading the stories left by their trails. Explains how to recognize and identify tracks, correctly measure footprints, and use measurements to judge gender aand. Signs of wolves covered include scat, scent marking, and carcasses are covered. Detailed information covers gait trails and interpreting patterns on the ground. One section compares wolf signs to the signs of coyote, bears, bocats, and cougars which is wrapped up with guidelines for differentiation of wolf signs from coyotes and domestics dogs.

A comprehensive book intended for anyone maintaining bats in captivity. Bats in Captivity is the only book of its kind, detailing the captive care of bats worldwide. This volume comprises 38 papers by 41 contributing authors. It contains a user-friendly guide to bat identification, subjects on reproductive patterns and parental care, social organization and communication, capturing and handling, releasing bats into the wild, marking bats for individual identification, torpor and hibernation, lactation and postnatal growth, simulating mother's milk and hand rearing pups of all bat groups, plus much more.