Drawing from literature, history, animal behavioral research, and the wonderful true stories of cat experts and cat lovers around the world, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson vividly explores the delights and mysteries of the feline heart. But at the core of this remarkable book are Masson's candid, often amusing observations of his own five cats. Their mischievous behavior, aloofness, and affection provide a way to examine emotions from contentment to jealousy, from anger to love. "The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats will captivate readers with its surprises, offering a new perspective on the deep connection shared by humans and their feline friends.

Through a selection of her stunning photographs, Alexandra Morton portrays life on the central British Columbia coast.She arrived in the area in 1984 as a whale researcher, and at first, she was absorbed in studying the orca and admiring the magnificent scenery. It is a coast with a long history: dolphins have pulsed in and out for 10,000 years; First Nations people have lived here for almost as long; European settlers arrived a scant century ago. As time passed, Morton began to observe the lives of other creatures that share the sea and land-humpback whales, bears, salmon, eagles, deer, and humans-and understand how they are all interconnected. As one example, "Bears drag salmon beneath the trees of the forest, feeding the giant plants that shade the river nursery, protect its banks and allow it to make more fish." In "Beyond the Whales," Alexandra explains what is going on beyond the beauty of the images: "One of the joys of watching a place for 20 years is being able to read the signs upon the sea-bubbles on the surface mean tons of herring below; three birds over an orca mean the whale has brought fish to the surface; shearwaters in Blackfish Sound mean autumn is here. The ocean feeds the rivers and the rivers feed the ocean."

Situating the wolf in the history of Canadian national parks, Karen Jones considers changing ideas of nature and wilderness and competing visions of the North American West. Wolf Mountains: A History of Wolves along the Great Divide is essentially a work of environmental history, treating the land as an actor in the historical process. This controversial study examines the tumultuous relationship between humans and wolves in four Rocky Mountain parks. By comparing the distinctive lupine histories of specific national parks with anecdotes and narratives of wolves from Aboriginals and early Europeans from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, important shifts in attitude and policy are clearly shown. Drawing on published scholarly research, archived newspapers, records from environmental groups, U.S. and Canadian park records, first-hand accounts from explorers and trappers, and scientific interviews with park staff and biologists, this book contributes enormously to our understanding of the relationship between wolves and humans.

This booklet is part of a series of booklets on deer in Britain and gives details about the biology and ecology of Sika deer in Great Britain.

"This book will have long-lasting effects on conservation of the okapi and preservation of the forest: the authors' research will heighten awareness of the plight of the okapi, and their royalties will go directly to helping...the Ituri Forest conservation program. You will be helping if you buy this book and encourage your friends to do the same. Okapis have a special place in the natural world, and it is up to us to ensure that they and their forests survive." -- Jane Goodall

Congo-Zaire contains Africa's largest remaining tracts of intact rain forest, making it one of the most important regions for biodiversity conservation. Its Ituri Forest is home to plants and animals native to nowhere else on earth, including the elusive and little-known okapi.

In this popularly written book, three long-time observers of the okapi present a complete, contemporary natural history of this appealing relative of the giraffe. They recount its discovery by European explorers and describe its appearance and life cycle. They also discuss current efforts to preserve the species, both in the wild and at zoos around the world.

Illustrated with charming line drawings, The Okapi will be a valuable resource for conservationists and zoo visitors alike-indeed anyone fascinated by the mysterious animal of Congo-Zaire.

"The authors have done a superb job of distilling a vast amount of information on the biology of the terrestrial mammals of the eastern United States in a style that will not only satisfy the expert's need for accurate data but will also appeal to students and others interested in natural history." -James N. Layne, Archbold Biological Station In their definitive work on eastern mammals, John O. Whitaker, Jr., and W. J. Hamilton, Jr., vividly convey their sheer delight at the variety and abundance of mammalian life. They have brought together a wealth of biological information and applied a biological subspecies concept to the mammals of the eastern United States. Their research extends "from the high reaches of Mount Katahdin in northern Maine, where water shrews and moose hold company," to the unglaciated hills of southern Indiana, where pygmy shrews (each weighing less than a dime) lived undetected until 1981. From there, they reach to "the cypress swamps of lower Florida, where the spoor of the mountain lion may be seen."*Describes the animals, their behavior, and dispersion in all 27 states east of the Mississippi River.*Almost entirely rewritten, this edition provides an abundance of scientific information in combination with anecdotes, field notes, and an underlying reverence for the fragile diversity of animal life. *Illustrations include 110 range maps, 167 black-and-white photographs, and 92 color images.*Covers 121 species, 17 more than in the previous edition. *Uses a biological subspecies concept, showing the results of evolution through differentiation. *Provides keys to orders and genera, anatomical line drawings. *Summarizes information on endangered and threatened species for each of the eastern states. *Lists state mammal books in the literature section.

The True Story of a Friendship Between Man and Wolf

First published in 1974, this classic tale of friendship, courage, and the wild has captured hearts of all ages.

In 1970, a young Indian who introduced himself as Gregory Tah-Kloma beached his canoe near the author's Babine Lake campsite in the backwoods of British Columbia. Night after night by the campfire, the young Indian told the remarkable story of his devotion to a pack of timber wolves and their legendary female leader: Náhani, "the one who shines."

This extraordinary tale has touched many readers over the years with its moving portrayal of the friendship between Greg and Náhani. Certain names and locations have been altered, but the facts of Gregory Tah-Kloma's adventures with Náhani are as he told them to Robert Leslie.

"A well-written story that is a delight to read."-Christian Science Monitor

Of all the mammals, rodents are undoubtedly the most significant single group. With some 1500 species, they constitute an amazing 40 per cent of the world's known mammal population. They have colonized the whole planet - with the common house mouse now found on every continent including Antarctica. This latest title in the "Of the World" series describes the rodent families and their tremendously wide range of lifestyles - from the subterranean-dwelling blind mole rat to the spectacular flying squirrel, from the dam-building beaver to the largest present-day rodent, the giant capybara of South America. There are accounts of their many interactions with man, from being despised pests and carriers of disease to being of economic importance as "farmed" animals for fur production - or even as domestic pets. Full details are given of their evolution, classification and distribution, together with detailed descriptions of form and function, breeding and feeding habits. The text is enhanced throughout with distribution maps and over 100 color photographs. Despite the friendly images of rodents in the media, man has a generally unsympathetic view of most rodent species. This attitude has tended to mask the great danger of extinction which many species now face. This book details the need for conservation and describes the captive breeding programs now underway to ensure survival of this fascinating group of mammals whose adaptability for life on this planet is rivalled only by our own.

Because carnivores are at the top of the food chain, their status is an important indicator of the health of the world ecosystem. They are intensely interesting to zoologists and uniquely intriguing to the general public. Devoted primarily to terrestrial carnivores, this volume focuses on such themes as carnivore reintroduction programs and the ethics of studying carnivores, drawing examples from a variety of species.

Constantine Slobodchikoff and colleagues synthesize the results of their long-running study of Gunnison s prairie dogs ("Cynomys gunnisoni"), one of the keystone species of the short-grass prairie ecosystem. They set their research in the context of the biology of the five "Cynomys" species found in the United States and Mexico, and detail their investigation into the prairie dogs sophisticated system of barks, yips, and chirps, which Slobodchikoff argues represents a referential communication capable of fine distinctions among predators.

Seen as vermin that spoiled valuable rangeland, prairie dogs were long the subject of eradication campaigns and are now threatened by habitat loss and the loss of genetic diversity. The authors hope their research will help to pull the prairie dog back from the brink of extinction, as well as foster an appreciation of larger conservation challenges. By examining the complex factors behind prairie dog decline, we can begin to understand the problems inherent in our adversarial relationship with the natural world. Understanding these interactions is the first step toward a more sustainable future.

Wild grizzly bears, conducting their affairs undisturbed, are the essence of the wilderness spirit. Much has been written, both fact and fiction, about these awesome animals, but until very recently we have known little about the details of their daily existence.

For twenty-five years, Adolph Murie, one of North America's greatest naturalists, spent his summers in Mount McKinley National Park (since renamed Denali National Park) tracking, recording, and interpreting the lives of these magnificent animals in one of their few remaining strongholds. Murie observed the grizzlies as they moved throughout their range. He noted how families were formed, how they found food, and he described in detail how they related to other animals with whom they came in contact, including man. Often he followed a bear family for days as it traveled through the park. Even though their behavior could be quite unpredictable, Murie was able to distinguish, through careful observation, the individuals who made up many distinct families.

Originally available only in government publications which are long out of print, this classic work of natural history is now published which are long out of print, this classic work of natural history is now published for the first time in a popular edition. This edition is being published simultaneously with Adolph Murie's other classic study of the Far North, "The Wolves of Mount McKinley", thus making widely available two of the most important studies on North American wildlife.

Introduce students to one of nature's most endearing animals and inspire learning across the curriculum with a delightful diversity of activities focusing on bears. Polar bears, black bears, brown bears, giant panda bears, sun bears, sloth bears, teddy bears, and others are brought together for an exciting learning adventure in this wonderful resource for educators and their students. Innovative, ready-to-use instructional units in science and social studies employ a multitude of hands-on activities that help students explore life science and develop whole language concepts, historical anecdotes, recipes, songs, a bibliography of resources, and more offer unique and stimulating experiences that you and your students will treasure for a lifetime.

Since the appearance of the second edition of Sydney A. Asdell's widely used Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction in 1964, the field of reproductive physiology has expanded dramatically. Accordingly, this revision adopts a different structure from previous editions, substituting empirical delineations for physiological interpretations. With the emphases now on a presentation of the published facts of mammalian reproduction, it provides a thorough compilation of what is known about the basic reproductive biology of each of the 4300 mammalian species.To gather information, the authors examined more than 20,000 publications, dating up to 1992. They used primary sources as much as possible, supplementing them with English translations of Russian, Finnish, Chinese, and Japanese journals. The data are presented in taxonomic order. Each familial account summarizes the pattern of reproduction for the family and provides lists of citations arranged by topic of the literature on the endocrinology, reproductive anatomy, and reproductive physiology of the family. Following each account is a tabular listing of species-specific data for neonatal mass and size, weaning mass and size, litter size, age at sexual maturity, estrous cycle length, gestation length, lactation length, number of litters per year, and seasonality of reproduction. For each of these reproductive variables, the range of data gleaned from the literature is given, together with the source of each value listed.Virginia Hayssen is Assistant Professor of Biology at Smith College. Ari Van Tienhoven is Professor of Animal Physiology, Emeritus, at Cornell University. Ans Van Tienhoven assisted in the compilation of data for the book.

"New York Times" Bestseller
A "Discover" Magazine Best Book of 2012
An "O, The Oprah Magazine ""Summer Reading" Pick
Finalist, 2013 AAAS/Subaru "SB&F "Prize for Excellence in Science Books
Do animals overeat? Get breast cancer? Have fainting spells?
Inspired by an eye-opening consultation at the Los Angeles Zoo, which revealed that a monkey experienced the same symptoms of heart failure as her human patients, cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz embarked upon a project that would reshape how she practiced medicine. Beginning with the above questions, she began informally researching every affliction that she encountered in humans to learn whether it happened with animals, too. And usually, it did: dinosaurs suffered from brain cancer, koalas can catch chlamydia, reindeer seek narcotic escape in hallucinogenic mushrooms, stallions self-mutilate, and gorillas experience clinical depression. Natterson-Horowitz and science writer Kathryn Bowers have dubbed this pan-species approach to medicine "zoobiquity." Here, they present a revelatory understanding of what animals can teach us about the human body and mind, exploring how animal and human commonality can be used to diagnose, treat, and heal patients of all species.

Among the most widespread and abundant of the world's larger mammals, deer have been a source of endless fascination for humans beings. Yet over the centuries we have hunted them for sport and for their meat, hides, and antlers, and pursued them as destructive pests.In this richly informative and engagingly written book, Rory Putnam captures the astonishing diversity in habitat, diet, social organization, and behavior of the world's 40 species of deer, and tells what is known about their biology and natural history. Rather than simply assembling species-by-species data, he compares and contrasts the characteristics of the various species and accounts for their similiarities and differences in reference to the environments they have come to colonize.After discussing the origins of deer, Putnam describes the species of modern deer and their evolutionary relationships. He considers aspects of their physiology, ecology, and behavior, drawing particular attention to the ecology of habitat use, diet and digestive physiology, and social organization and behavior. He covers the life histories of the different species, population dynamics, and the interactions of deer with other animals.Devoting a whole chapter to an essay on antlers, he ends with an enlightening and entertaining analysis of the relations between deer and humans.Generously illustrated with stunning color and black-and-white photographs, as well as many line drawings and figures, this book will both reward the amateur naturalist and please the professional biologist."

The jaguar is one of the most mysterious and least-known big cats of the world. The largest cat in the Americas, it has survived an onslaught of environmental and human threats partly because of an evolutionary history unique among wild felines, but also because of a power and indomitable spirit so strong, the jaguar has shaped indigenous cultures and the beliefs of early civilizations on two continents. In An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar, big-cat expert Alan Rabinowitz shares his own personal journey to conserve a species that, despite its past resilience, is now on a slide toward extinction if something is not done to preserve the pathways it prowls through an ever-changing, ever-shifting landscape dominated by humans. Rabinowitz reveals how he learned from newly available genetic data that the jaguar was a single species connected genetically throughout its entire range from Mexico to Argentina, making it unique among all other large carnivores in the world. In a mix of personal discovery and scientific inquiry, he sweeps his readers deep into the realm of the jaguar, offering fascinating accounts from the field. Enhanced with maps, tables, and colour plates, An Indomitable Beast brings important new research to life for scientists, anthropologists, and animal lovers alike. This book is not only about jaguars, but also about tenacity and survival. From the jaguar we can learn better strategies for saving other species and also how to save ourselves when faced with immediate and long-term catastrophic changes to our environment.

"A masterful synthesis of anatomy, physiology, and behavior into a coherent exposition on the ways these highly specialized mammals make their living. . . . The book is a tremendous addition to the biologist's bookshelf and a 'must' for those who specialize in the study of these most fascinating mammals." Quarterly Review of Biology"Ewer's equal excellence as an ethologist and paleontologist gives her a better perspective on these subjects as well as their combination in 'paleoethology' than almost anyone." American Scientist"Ewer writes pleasantly and her text is refreshingly free of jargon, so that the book is enjoyable to read for layman and scientist alike. Here and there are personal reflections and anecdotes which not only help to enliven the pages but often also provide a new insight into a problem." Science"

"This book is timely, and it provides a well-researched, compact entry to this literature." Animal Behaviour

Communication in the Chiroptera reviews the available information about communication in chiroptera including brilliant suggestions on the relationship of bat communication to the general subject of communication."

Wolves are some of the world's most charismatic and controversial animals, capturing the imaginations of their friends and foes alike. Highly intelligent and adaptable, they hunt and play together in close-knit packs, sometimes roaming over hundreds of square miles in search of food. Once teetering on the brink of extinction across much of the United States and Europe, wolves have made a tremendous comeback in recent years, thanks to legal protection, changing human attitudes, and efforts to reintroduce them to suitable habitats in North America. As wolf populations have rebounded, scientific studies of them have also flourished. But there hasn't been a systematic, comprehensive overview of wolf biology since 1970. In Wolves, many of the world's leading wolf experts provide state-of-the-art coverage of just about everything you could want to know about these fascinating creatures. Individual chapters cover wolf social ecology, behavior, communication, feeding habits and hunting techniques, population dynamics, physiology and pathology, molecular genetics, evolution and taxonomy, interactions with nonhuman animals such as bears and coyotes, reintroduction, interactions with humans, and conservation and recovery efforts. The book discusses both gray and red wolves in detail and includes information about wolves around the world, from the United States and Canada to Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Israel, India, and Mongolia. Wolves is also extensively illustrated with black and white photos, line drawings, maps, and fifty color plates. Unrivalled in scope and comprehensiveness, Wolves will become the definitive resource on these extraordinary animals for scientists and amateurs alike. "An excellent compilation of current knowledge, with contributions from all the main players in wolf research. . . . It is designed for a wide readership, and certainly the language and style will appeal to both scientists and lucophiles alike. . . . This is an excellent summary of current knowledge and will remain the standard reference work for a long time to come."--Stephen Harris, New Scientist "This is the place to find almost any fact you want about wolves."--Stephen Mills, BBC Wildlife Magazine

A lavish volume in celebration of the astonishing fossils uncovered in Abu Dhabi's deserts, a region once lush, green, and teeming with now-extinct animals This lavish volume celebrates the astonishing wealth of fossils uncovered in recent decades in Abu Dhabi's desert. These prehistoric findings, around seven million years in age, record a period when the region was lush, green, and teeming with diverse mammals, all now extinct. With more than one hundred full-color photographs, including reconstructions of extinct animals, this book is both a visual delight and a unique glimpse into Arabia's ancient past. All text in the book is presented in both English and Arabic. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History