Author: Rick Bass
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547055218
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
Acclaimed nature writer Rick Bass takes us on a journey into the Namib Desert to follow a group of poachers-turned-conservationists as they track the endangered black rhinos through their ancient and harsh African homeland.
The Black Rhinos of Namibia
Author: Rick Bass
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547055218
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
Acclaimed nature writer Rick Bass takes us on a journey into the Namib Desert to follow a group of poachers-turned-conservationists as they track the endangered black rhinos through their ancient and harsh African homeland.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547055218
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
Acclaimed nature writer Rick Bass takes us on a journey into the Namib Desert to follow a group of poachers-turned-conservationists as they track the endangered black rhinos through their ancient and harsh African homeland.
Horn of Darkness
Author: Carol Cunningham
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195138805
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
The black rhino is nature's tank, feared by all animals. Even lions will break off a hunt to detour around one. And yet the black rhino is on the edge of extinction, its numbers dwindling from 100,000 at the turn of the century, to less than 2,500 today. The reason is that in places like Yemen, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, the rhino's horn is more valuable than gold, so valuable that people will risk their lives to harvest it. To deter rhino poachers, African governments have spent millions--on helicopters, paramilitary operations, fences and guard dogs, even relocation to protected areas. Finally, Namibia decided to de-horn its rhino population, in a last ditch effort to stop the slaughter. In 1991, Carol Cunningham and Joel Berger, and their eighteen-month-old daughter Sonja, went to Namibia to weigh the effects of de-horning on rhinos. In Horn of Darkness, they tell the story of three years in the Namib Desert, studying Africa's last sizable population of free-roaming black rhinos. This is the closest most readers will come to experiencing life in the remaining wilds of Africa. Cunningham and Berger, writing nate chapters, capture what it is like to leave the comforts of civilization, to camp for months at a time in a land filled with deadly predators, to study an animal that is reclusive, unpredictable, and highly dangerous. The authors describe staking out water holes in the dead of the night, creeping to within twenty-seven meters of rhinos to photograph them, all the while keeping a lookout for hyenas, elephants, and lions. They recount many heart-pounding escapes--one rhino forces Carol Cunningham up a tree, an unseen lion in hot pursuit of hyenas races right past a frozen Joel Berger--and capture the adrenaline rush of inching closer to a rhino that might flee--or charge--at any moment. They also give readers a clear sense of the careful, patient work involved in studying animals, the frustration of long days without finding rhinos or seeing other people, coping with heat and thirst (the Namib desert is one of the driest on Earth), with dirt and insects, driving hundreds of kilometers in a Land Rover packed to capacity, slowing amassing records on one hundred individual rhinos over the course of several years. And perhaps most important, the authors reveal that the data they collected suggests that the de-horning project might backfire--that in the four years after de-horning began, calf survival was down (the evidence suggests that hyenas might be preying on calves and the horn less mothers couldn't defend their offspring). They also describe the dark side of scientific work, from the petty jealousy of other scientists--outside researchers were often seen as ecological imperialists--to the controversy that erupted after the authors published their findings, as furious officials of the Namibian conservation program denounced their findings and through delays and other tactics effectively withheld a permit to allow the couple to continue their study. Weaving together the historical accounts of other naturalists, a vividly detailed look at life in the wild, and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of scientific work and the dark side of the conservation movement, Horn of Darkness is destined to be a classic work on the natural world.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195138805
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
The black rhino is nature's tank, feared by all animals. Even lions will break off a hunt to detour around one. And yet the black rhino is on the edge of extinction, its numbers dwindling from 100,000 at the turn of the century, to less than 2,500 today. The reason is that in places like Yemen, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, the rhino's horn is more valuable than gold, so valuable that people will risk their lives to harvest it. To deter rhino poachers, African governments have spent millions--on helicopters, paramilitary operations, fences and guard dogs, even relocation to protected areas. Finally, Namibia decided to de-horn its rhino population, in a last ditch effort to stop the slaughter. In 1991, Carol Cunningham and Joel Berger, and their eighteen-month-old daughter Sonja, went to Namibia to weigh the effects of de-horning on rhinos. In Horn of Darkness, they tell the story of three years in the Namib Desert, studying Africa's last sizable population of free-roaming black rhinos. This is the closest most readers will come to experiencing life in the remaining wilds of Africa. Cunningham and Berger, writing nate chapters, capture what it is like to leave the comforts of civilization, to camp for months at a time in a land filled with deadly predators, to study an animal that is reclusive, unpredictable, and highly dangerous. The authors describe staking out water holes in the dead of the night, creeping to within twenty-seven meters of rhinos to photograph them, all the while keeping a lookout for hyenas, elephants, and lions. They recount many heart-pounding escapes--one rhino forces Carol Cunningham up a tree, an unseen lion in hot pursuit of hyenas races right past a frozen Joel Berger--and capture the adrenaline rush of inching closer to a rhino that might flee--or charge--at any moment. They also give readers a clear sense of the careful, patient work involved in studying animals, the frustration of long days without finding rhinos or seeing other people, coping with heat and thirst (the Namib desert is one of the driest on Earth), with dirt and insects, driving hundreds of kilometers in a Land Rover packed to capacity, slowing amassing records on one hundred individual rhinos over the course of several years. And perhaps most important, the authors reveal that the data they collected suggests that the de-horning project might backfire--that in the four years after de-horning began, calf survival was down (the evidence suggests that hyenas might be preying on calves and the horn less mothers couldn't defend their offspring). They also describe the dark side of scientific work, from the petty jealousy of other scientists--outside researchers were often seen as ecological imperialists--to the controversy that erupted after the authors published their findings, as furious officials of the Namibian conservation program denounced their findings and through delays and other tactics effectively withheld a permit to allow the couple to continue their study. Weaving together the historical accounts of other naturalists, a vividly detailed look at life in the wild, and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of scientific work and the dark side of the conservation movement, Horn of Darkness is destined to be a classic work on the natural world.
African Rhino
Author: Richard Emslie
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 2831705029
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 102
Book Description
The black and the white rhinoceros have become flagship species for international conservation. They are significant not only for the continuation of a major evolutionary heritage, but also as symbols for the protection of African savannahs. The battle for the survival of these species has been marked by some notable successes and sadly, many failures, and the situation is still critical. The international horn trade ban and the domestic bans imposed in most traditional user states have driven the trade further underground, in some cases inflating prices and making illegal dealing even more lucrative.This Plan is aimed at donors, government and non-government organizations, and all those involved in rhino conservation. It outlines the actions and strategies needed to catalyse support for these majestic animals, and help secure their future in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall conclusion is that, given the political will, stability and adequate field expenditure, rhinos can be conserved in the wild.
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 2831705029
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 102
Book Description
The black and the white rhinoceros have become flagship species for international conservation. They are significant not only for the continuation of a major evolutionary heritage, but also as symbols for the protection of African savannahs. The battle for the survival of these species has been marked by some notable successes and sadly, many failures, and the situation is still critical. The international horn trade ban and the domestic bans imposed in most traditional user states have driven the trade further underground, in some cases inflating prices and making illegal dealing even more lucrative.This Plan is aimed at donors, government and non-government organizations, and all those involved in rhino conservation. It outlines the actions and strategies needed to catalyse support for these majestic animals, and help secure their future in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall conclusion is that, given the political will, stability and adequate field expenditure, rhinos can be conserved in the wild.
An Empty Coast
Author: Tony Park
Publisher: Ingwe Publishing
ISBN: 1922389293
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 482
Book Description
A body from an old war and a missing girl bring retired mercenary Sonja Kurtz home to Africa's deadly Skeleton Coast. Sonja Kurtz – former soldier, supposedly retired mercenary - is in Vietnam carrying out a personal revenge mission when her daughter sends a call for help. Emma, a student archaeologist, on a dig at the edge of Namibia’s Etosha National Park has discovered a body dating back to the country’s liberation war of the 1980s. The remains of the airman, identified as Hudson Brand, are a key piece of a puzzle that will reveal the location of a modern day buried treasure - a find people will kill for. Sonja returns to the country of her birth to find Emma, who since her call has gone missing. Former CIA agent Hudson Brand is very much alive and is also drawn back to Namibia to finally solve a decades-old mystery whose clues are entombed in an empty corner of the desert.
Publisher: Ingwe Publishing
ISBN: 1922389293
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 482
Book Description
A body from an old war and a missing girl bring retired mercenary Sonja Kurtz home to Africa's deadly Skeleton Coast. Sonja Kurtz – former soldier, supposedly retired mercenary - is in Vietnam carrying out a personal revenge mission when her daughter sends a call for help. Emma, a student archaeologist, on a dig at the edge of Namibia’s Etosha National Park has discovered a body dating back to the country’s liberation war of the 1980s. The remains of the airman, identified as Hudson Brand, are a key piece of a puzzle that will reveal the location of a modern day buried treasure - a find people will kill for. Sonja returns to the country of her birth to find Emma, who since her call has gone missing. Former CIA agent Hudson Brand is very much alive and is also drawn back to Namibia to finally solve a decades-old mystery whose clues are entombed in an empty corner of the desert.
Black Rhinos
Author: Kevin Cunningham
Publisher: Mitchell Lane Publishers
ISBN: 1545759170
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
Killed for their horns, Africa’s black rhinos face extinction. The species has made a comeback with human help. But hunters and lack of space still threaten its survival. The Animals in Danger series presents Black Rhinos, an all-around guide to the fascinating two-horned giant. Cutting-edge science helps tell the inside story of the black rhino’s habits and personality. Eyewitness reports offer a look at the work to save the species. In addition, images and extra features like maps and a glossary help readers understand black rhinos and how human actions affect the animal’s present and future.
Publisher: Mitchell Lane Publishers
ISBN: 1545759170
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
Killed for their horns, Africa’s black rhinos face extinction. The species has made a comeback with human help. But hunters and lack of space still threaten its survival. The Animals in Danger series presents Black Rhinos, an all-around guide to the fascinating two-horned giant. Cutting-edge science helps tell the inside story of the black rhino’s habits and personality. Eyewitness reports offer a look at the work to save the species. In addition, images and extra features like maps and a glossary help readers understand black rhinos and how human actions affect the animal’s present and future.
Running with Rhinos
Author: Ed Warner
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
ISBN: 1626342288
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
“Running with rhinos” is not a euphemism—not when you’re ground support for the International Rhino Foundation’s Rhino Conservancy Project. Edward M. Warner, a self-proclaimed radical conservationist, presents his outrageous adventures from more than a decade of collaboration with the veterinarians and biologists who care for endangered rhinos in Africa. Few if any laymen like Warner have been invited to do what amounts to some of the most dangerous volunteer fieldwork around. Fewer than five thousand black rhinos remain in the wilds of sub-Saharan Africa. About five hundred live on private conservancies in Zimbabwe. For Warner, working on the frontlines of rhino conservation not only allowed him to help rhinos, it gave him the opportunity to pursue and refine his emerging philosophy of radical conservationism, to cultivate partnerships between local communities and private landowners in Africa, and to export the lessons about land and wildlife management back home to the United States. In Running with Rhinos: Stories from a Radical Conservationist, Warner takes readers along as he weasels his way into becoming volunteer ground support for the International Rhino Foundation’s Rhino Conservancy Project, or “Rhino Ops,” in Zimbabwe. It is gritty, sweaty, sometimes scary, and exhilarating work. Warner succeeds in telling a remarkable story of the extraordinary bonds between humans—and their dedication to protecting endangered animals—all while weaving eye-opening stories about the flora, fauna, geology, geography, and politics of sub-Saharan Africa.
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
ISBN: 1626342288
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
“Running with rhinos” is not a euphemism—not when you’re ground support for the International Rhino Foundation’s Rhino Conservancy Project. Edward M. Warner, a self-proclaimed radical conservationist, presents his outrageous adventures from more than a decade of collaboration with the veterinarians and biologists who care for endangered rhinos in Africa. Few if any laymen like Warner have been invited to do what amounts to some of the most dangerous volunteer fieldwork around. Fewer than five thousand black rhinos remain in the wilds of sub-Saharan Africa. About five hundred live on private conservancies in Zimbabwe. For Warner, working on the frontlines of rhino conservation not only allowed him to help rhinos, it gave him the opportunity to pursue and refine his emerging philosophy of radical conservationism, to cultivate partnerships between local communities and private landowners in Africa, and to export the lessons about land and wildlife management back home to the United States. In Running with Rhinos: Stories from a Radical Conservationist, Warner takes readers along as he weasels his way into becoming volunteer ground support for the International Rhino Foundation’s Rhino Conservancy Project, or “Rhino Ops,” in Zimbabwe. It is gritty, sweaty, sometimes scary, and exhilarating work. Warner succeeds in telling a remarkable story of the extraordinary bonds between humans—and their dedication to protecting endangered animals—all while weaving eye-opening stories about the flora, fauna, geology, geography, and politics of sub-Saharan Africa.
Guidelines for the in Situ Re-introduction and Translocation of African and Asian Rhinoceros
Author: IUCN/SSC African Rhino Specialist Group
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 2831711355
Category : Rhinoceroses
Languages : en
Pages : 125
Book Description
Publisher: IUCN
ISBN: 2831711355
Category : Rhinoceroses
Languages : en
Pages : 125
Book Description
Saving the Last Rhinos
Author: Grant Fowlds
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643135120
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
The remarkable story of Grant Fowlds, who has dedicated his life to saving the imperiled rhinos, vividly told with Graham Spence, co-author of the bestselling The Elephant Whisperer. What would drive a man to ‘smuggle’ rhino horn back into Africa at great risk to himself? This is just one of the situations Fowlds has put himself in as part of his ongoing fight against poaching, in order to prove a link between southern Africa and the illicit, lucrative trade in rhino horn in Vietnam. Shavings of rhino horn are sold as a snake-oil “cures,” but a rhino’s horn has no magical, medicinal properties whatsoever. Yet it is for this that rhinoceroses are being killed at an escalating rate that puts the survival of the species in jeopardy. This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife has brought an iconic animal to the brink of extinction. Growing up on a farm in the eastern Cape of South Africa, Grant developed a deep love of nature, turning his back on hunting to focus on saving wildlife of all kinds and the environment that sustains both them and us. He is a passionate conservationist who puts himself on the front line of protecting rhinos in the wild—right now, against armed poachers—and in the long term, through his work with schoolchildren, communities, and policymakers.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643135120
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
The remarkable story of Grant Fowlds, who has dedicated his life to saving the imperiled rhinos, vividly told with Graham Spence, co-author of the bestselling The Elephant Whisperer. What would drive a man to ‘smuggle’ rhino horn back into Africa at great risk to himself? This is just one of the situations Fowlds has put himself in as part of his ongoing fight against poaching, in order to prove a link between southern Africa and the illicit, lucrative trade in rhino horn in Vietnam. Shavings of rhino horn are sold as a snake-oil “cures,” but a rhino’s horn has no magical, medicinal properties whatsoever. Yet it is for this that rhinoceroses are being killed at an escalating rate that puts the survival of the species in jeopardy. This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife has brought an iconic animal to the brink of extinction. Growing up on a farm in the eastern Cape of South Africa, Grant developed a deep love of nature, turning his back on hunting to focus on saving wildlife of all kinds and the environment that sustains both them and us. He is a passionate conservationist who puts himself on the front line of protecting rhinos in the wild—right now, against armed poachers—and in the long term, through his work with schoolchildren, communities, and policymakers.
Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction
Author: Michelle Nijhuis
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324001690
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Winner of the Sierra Club's 2021 Rachel Carson Award One of Chicago Tribune's Ten Best Books of 2021 Named a Top Ten Best Science Book of 2021 by Booklist and Smithsonian Magazine "At once thoughtful and thought-provoking,” Beloved Beasts tells the story of the modern conservation movement through the lives and ideas of the people who built it, making “a crucial addition to the literature of our troubled time" (Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction). In the late nineteenth century, humans came at long last to a devastating realization: their rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today’s global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis’s “spirited and engaging” account documents “the changes of heart that changed history” (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe). With “urgency, passion, and wit” (Michael Berry, Christian Science Monitor), she describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, reveals the origins of vital organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund, explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros, and confronts the darker side of modern conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism. As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change wreak havoc on our world, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species including our own.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324001690
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Winner of the Sierra Club's 2021 Rachel Carson Award One of Chicago Tribune's Ten Best Books of 2021 Named a Top Ten Best Science Book of 2021 by Booklist and Smithsonian Magazine "At once thoughtful and thought-provoking,” Beloved Beasts tells the story of the modern conservation movement through the lives and ideas of the people who built it, making “a crucial addition to the literature of our troubled time" (Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction). In the late nineteenth century, humans came at long last to a devastating realization: their rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today’s global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis’s “spirited and engaging” account documents “the changes of heart that changed history” (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe). With “urgency, passion, and wit” (Michael Berry, Christian Science Monitor), she describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, reveals the origins of vital organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund, explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros, and confronts the darker side of modern conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism. As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change wreak havoc on our world, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species including our own.
Humans and Hyenas
Author: Keith Somerville
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000360563
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Humans and Hyenas examines the origins and development of the relationship between the two to present an accurate and realistic picture of the hyena and its interactions with people. The hyena is one of the most maligned, misrepresented and defamed mammals. It is still, despite decades of research-led knowledge, seen as a skulking, cowardly scavenger rather than a successful hunter with complex family and communal systems. Hyenas are portrayed as sex-shifting deviants, grave robbers and attackers of children in everything from African folk tales through Greek and Roman accounts of animal life, to Disney’s The Lion King depicting hyenas with a lack of respect and disgust, despite the reality of their behaviour and social structures. Combining the personal, in-depth mining of scientific papers about the three main species and historical accounts, Keith Somerville delves into our relationship with hyenas from the earliest records from millennia ago, through the accounts by colonisers, to contemporary coexistence, where hyenas and humans are forced into ever closer proximity due to shrinking habitats and loss of prey. Are hyenas fated to retain their bad image or can their amazing ability to adapt to humans more successfully than lions and other predators lead to a shift in perspective? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the environmental sciences, conservation biology, and wildlife and conservation issues.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000360563
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Humans and Hyenas examines the origins and development of the relationship between the two to present an accurate and realistic picture of the hyena and its interactions with people. The hyena is one of the most maligned, misrepresented and defamed mammals. It is still, despite decades of research-led knowledge, seen as a skulking, cowardly scavenger rather than a successful hunter with complex family and communal systems. Hyenas are portrayed as sex-shifting deviants, grave robbers and attackers of children in everything from African folk tales through Greek and Roman accounts of animal life, to Disney’s The Lion King depicting hyenas with a lack of respect and disgust, despite the reality of their behaviour and social structures. Combining the personal, in-depth mining of scientific papers about the three main species and historical accounts, Keith Somerville delves into our relationship with hyenas from the earliest records from millennia ago, through the accounts by colonisers, to contemporary coexistence, where hyenas and humans are forced into ever closer proximity due to shrinking habitats and loss of prey. Are hyenas fated to retain their bad image or can their amazing ability to adapt to humans more successfully than lions and other predators lead to a shift in perspective? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the environmental sciences, conservation biology, and wildlife and conservation issues.