Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators

by William Stolzenburg

Overview

For years, predators like snow leopards and white-tipped sharks have been disappearing from the top of the food chain, largely as a result of human action. Science journalist Will Stolzenburg reveals why and how their absence upsets the delicate balance of the world's environment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608196456
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/15/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	540,086
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Will Stolzenburg has studied predator control techniques and worked as a wildlife technician, monitoring endangered species. He has written hundreds of magazine features and columns on the ecology of rarity and extinction for Science News and Nature Conservancy, among others. He lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
Will Stolzenburg has studied predator control techniques and worked as a wildlife technician, monitoring endangered species. He has written hundreds of magazine features and columns on the ecology of rarity and extinction for Science News and Nature Conservancy, among others. He lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

Stolzenburg narrates these cautionary tales with a conservationist's attention to ecological detail and a childlike reverence for flesh-tearing beasts. His infection enthusiasm should spark even in bug-wary urbanites a renewed appreciation for nature's complexity.” —TIME magazine

“This is a masterpiece, and its subject is extremely important and timely. I hope that Where the Wild Things Were receives the attention (and the accolades) it deserves.” —Mark Garland, BirdCapeMay.org

“In dazzling descriptions, Stolzenburg demonstrates how the delicate balance between predator and prey is so essential, and his book, rich in dramatic accounts of life and death in the wild, is powerful and compelling.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred review

“A passionately rendered update on our faltering environmental stability.” —Kirkus Reviews

“With a lucid and sparkling voice, William Stolzenburg offers a revealing and well-documented account that explains clearly why we need the wolf, tiger, and other predators, large and small, to maintain a healthy environment.” —George B. Schaller, Vice President of Science and Exploration, Wildlife Conservation Society; author of the National Book Award–winning The Serengeti Lion; and winner of the National Geographic Lifetime Achievement Award and the World Wildlife Fund Gold Medal

“Where the Wild Things Were is science writing at its best. The subject is important for biology and sustainable development, the prose is excellent, turning lyrical at just the right times, and the story of the research is woven with clarity into natural history. Big, fierce animals have a noble champion in William Stolzenburg. ” —Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

From the Publisher

Readers who appreciate Vaillant's exploration of the impact of poaching on the tiger population should equally appreciate Stolzenburg's deftly written exploration of the role of top predators in maintaining ecological diversity. The author, a wildlife journalist, clearly and engagingly explains what happens when an ecosystem's top predator is wiped out. A chain of cause and effect unfurls as a kind of animal deregulation takes hold. The extermination of wolves, for example, means elk have free reign, which means forests fail as young trees are consumed in numbers too high to be sustainable. Vaillant fans will embrace Stolzenburg's fine science writing and ecological message. . Neal Wyatt, "RA Crossroads," Booksmack! 10/7/10

Library Journal - BookSmack!