It's time to shun our perfectionist society and discover the beauty in everything! Ugly-Cute is an adorkable compilation of misunderstood, underappreciated species including well-known lovable uggos, like sun bears and pugs, as well as obscure weirdos, like the star-nosed mole and the aye-aye. Each chapter is dedicated to a different ugly-cute animal and the ways in which we can learn from them. Featuring: 1. Pink Fairy Armadillo 2. Aye Aye 3. Star-nosed Mole 4. Wombat 5. Sucker-footed Bat 6. Sun Bear 7. Tapir 8. Anteater 9. White-faced Saki Monkey 10. Yeti Crab 11. Pug 12. Axolotl Salamander 13. Proboscis Monkey 14. Aquatic Scrotum Frog 15. Emu 16. Blobfish 17. Hairless Cat and more!

From a very young age, the Wildlife Man loved and held a fascination with animals. This is the story of how his passion for wildlife, originally a hobby, became first a part of his job as a police officer, then his full-time occupation and his life. He is respected and admired for his work to this day.

Species evolve over time to become perfectly adapted to their environments, right?Well, sometimes. Consider that an elephant will not grow a seventh set of teeth, even though wearing down the sixth will condemn it to starvation; that hosts of the European cuckoo seem unable to tell that the overgrown monster in their nest is not their own chick; and that whales are fully aquatic mammals who, millions of years after first abandoning the land, still cannot breathe underwater. This book is about evolution, but not its greatest hits. Instead, it explores everything in the animal kingdom that is self-defeating, ill-made, uneconomical, or downright weird – and explains how natural selection has favoured it. In the grand struggle for survival, some surprising patterns emerge: animals are always slightly out-of-date; inefficiency tends to increase over time; predators usually lose, and parasites usually win. With equal parts humour and scientific insight, Andy Dobson is here to explain the how and why of evolution’s limits and liabilities.

The third and final updated edition of David Attenborough’s classic Life trilogy. Life on Earth covered evolution, Living Planet , ecology, and now The Trials of Life tackles ethology, the study of how animals behave. ‘This is, quite simply, the best thing I’ve ever done.’ Sir David Attenborough on the TV series, The Trials of Life, upon which this book is based. This is the third and last of Sir David’s great natural history books based on his TV series and competes his survey of the animal world that began with Life on Earth and continues with Living Planet. In Life on Earth, Sir David showed how each group of animals evolved. In Living Planet he looked at the way they have adapted to the whole range of habitats in which they live. Now, in Trials of Life, he completes the story by revealing how animals behave – and why.

This vibrant, informative guide showcases the diverse wildlife of Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

It profiles over 60 mammal species – from the wildebeest that migrate in vast herds across the Serengeti plains to the big cats that lie in wait, as well as smaller species such as caracals, genets and bats. It also features 50 of the more common and charismatic bird species, 30 reptile and amphibian species, 10 iconic trees and a range of interesting insects.

Stunning full-colour photographs capture the essence of this popular game-viewing and birdwatching destination: action-packed river crossings, beautiful landscapes and African creatures great and small.

This book is both a useful guide in the field and a valuable memento.

Discover the diverse birdlife of Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area with this visually stunning guide. More than 300 commonly seen bird species are described in concise, engaging prose, highlighting their main characteristics.

The text is accompanied by excellent full-colour photographs. Viewing notes, including tips about where and when birds are best observed, are given throughout.

For ease of use, the book is categorized into six sections: ground-dwelling, bush and woodland, nocturnal, waterbirds, birds of prey, and birds of the air. A brief introduction presents the key features of each wildlife sanctuary and the habitats that shelter the birds.

This easy-to-read, richly illustrated guide is the perfect safari companion and a valuable memento.

Pursuing a dream instilled by early David Attenborough television adventures, a young man from the industrial northwest of England is advised at school to become a veterinary surgeon as a first step towards a career working with wild animals in Africa.

His misgivings about the values and justification of domestic veterinary practice are contrasted with a passion for wilderness and wildlife conservation. Early experiences in the vivid Uganda of Idi Amin are juxtaposed with life in a grey Pennines veterinary practice.

Eventually arriving as a veterinary officer in newly independent Botswana he finds adventure with wild animals as a veterinarian and later as an ecologist, survey pilot, game capture operator and even a safari hunter, becoming a passionate conservationist... all while starting the first veterinary practice in the country.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022 'A remarkable and powerful book, the rarest of things ... Nicolson is unique as a writer ... I loved it' EDMUND DE WAAL Few places are as familiar as the shore - and few as full of mystery and surprise. How do sandhoppers inherit an inbuilt compass from their parents? How do crabs understand the tides? How can the death of one winkle guarantee the lives of its companions? What does a prawn know? In Life Between the Tides, Adam Nicolson explores the natural wonders of the shoreline, from the extraordinary biology of its curious animals to the flow of our human history. This is an invitation to the water, where marvellous things wait an inch below the surface. Previously published as The Sea is Not Made of Water

The ultimate reference book for bird enthusiasts - now in its third edition. With expanded text and additional colour illustrations, the third edition of the hugely successful Collins Bird Guide is a must for every birdwatcher. The new edition has an extra 32 pages allowing several groups more space and completely or partly new plates with more detailed text: grouse, loons, several groups of raptors, terns, owls, swifts, woodpeckers, swallows, redstarts and some other relatives to the flycatchers (formerly often called 'small thrushes'), tits and a few finches and buntings are some of these. More than 50 plates are either new or have been repainted, completely or partly. Apart from this, a few new vignettes have been added. The section with vagrants has been expanded to accommodate more images and longer texts for several species. The entire text and all maps have of course also been revised. The book provides all the information needed to identify any species at any time of the year, covering size, habitat, range, identification and voice. Accompanying every species entry is a distribution map and illustrations showing the species in all the major plumages (male, female, immature, in flight, at rest, feeding: whatever is important). In addition, each group of birds includes an introduction which covers the major problems involved in identifying or observing them: how to organise a sea watching trip, how to separate birds of prey in flight, which duck hybrids can be confused with which main species. These and many other common birdwatching questions are answered. The combination of definitive text, up-to-date distribution maps and superb illustrations, all in a single volume, makes this book the ultimate field guide, essential on every bookshelf and birdwatching trip.