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His research on the lions of Gir forest in India, on the crocodiles of Northern Australia, on the bears of the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, and on the Siberian tigers of Far East Russia finds animals held in constant tension, encircled by every-expanding human populations. But Quammen doesn't oversimplify the conflicts. Often, in fact, Quammen has so much to say about competing interests that he makes several false starts before finding his true theme. Recalling his reading in the l970s literature on crocodiles in Africa, for example, Quammen abruptly jumps to a failed farming and reintroduction project begun in India before finally settling into the investigation of Northern Australia's Crocodylus Park.
These changes in geography, time, and perspective can be disorienting in a book that is already complicated by its several competing approaches. Adding to the abundance, Quammen explores human population growth projections, images of the Leviathan in the Bible, keystone species theory, the Muskrat hypothesis (the idea that the "wastage parts" of an animal species are the ones most likely to suffer predation), and the 1994 discovery of the Chauvet cave paintings. Yet Quammen, author of The Soing of the Dodo moves with such ease through this wilderness of ideas that even the most difficult material becomes palatable. --Patrick O’Kelley
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Brand New Copy. Seller Inventory # BBB_new0393051404
Book Description Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. First Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2003. Bibliography, index. maps, 526 pages. An examination of big predators and their effect on human psychology, science, literature and myth. Quamman focuses on four habitats and animals: brown bears in the Carpathians Mountains of Romania, saltwater crocodiles in Australia, Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East, and lions in the Gir forest of western India. . First Edition. New/New. Seller Inventory # 013466
Book Description Condition: new. (Hardcover, 2003). 2003 1st edition. 8vo (162 x 242mm). Ppxii,515. B/w maps, bibliography. Black cloth spine over cream paper-covered boards, spine titled in red-gilt. Slight marking to boards and edges, otherwise new unread copy in dust-wrapper. An extended essay on human beings as "an intermediate link in a food chain": a palaeontological and modern history of the many and various animals which eat people, and their relationship with the societies which provide their prey. David Quammen also examines the future of the various man-eating species, which is generally not hopeful. "Erudite, witty, and utterly fascinating, David Quammen's exegesis of the life and habits of four parlous predators - creatures that can and do consume humans - sets a new standard in nature writing. Here we have biology, history, sociology, politics and behaviourism combined in as full and rich a portrait of these animals and their environment as has ever been produced." (T.C. Boyle). "David Quammen has given us a frontline report from the longest war in human history - the struggle against man-eating carnivores - and shows how much we have lost by winning it." (Barbara Ehrenreich). Chapters include: The food chain of power and glory; Once there were lions; The muskrat conundrum; Leviathan with a hook; Shadow of the nine-toed bear; The teeth and the meat; Perestroika; Science fiction ending. PREVIOUS PRICE GBP 19.95. Seller Inventory # 16510
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