Lori Robinson's Blog, page 9

Animal Books

Do you love to read wildlife and animal books?

I do. I read a lot of them.

On these shelves you will find my favorites. These are the animal books I’ve read and loved.  My top recommendations.

Thanks for using any of the links to buy the books. A small percentage of your purchase goes to the best NGOs saving animals around the world. Using the link does not cost you anything extra. It’s a win win.

 

Top Animal Books #content { width:950px; } .post-comms{ margin-right:20px; } Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feelby Carl Safina
I wanted to know what they were experiencing, and why to us they feel so compelling, and so-close. This time I allowed myself to ask them the question that for a scientist was forbidden fruit: Who are you? Weaving decades of field observations with exciting new discoveries about the brain, Carl Safina's landmark book offers an intimate view of animal behavior to challenge the fixed boundary between humans and nonhuman animals. In Beyond Words, readers travel to Amboseli National Park in the threatened landscape of Kenya and witness struggling elephant families work out how to survive poaching and drought, then to Yellowstone National Park to observe wolves sort out the aftermath of one pack's personal tragedy, and finally plunge into the astonishingly peaceful society of killer whales living in the crystalline waters of the Pacific Northwest. Beyond Words brings forth powerful and illuminating insight into the unique personalities of animals through extraordinary stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy calls us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals. Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world.What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural Worldby Jon Young
“Jon Young knows birds, and you will too after reading his marvelous book. You’ll discover a universal bird language that will speak to you wherever you go outdoors. Every nature lover should read this book.”—Joseph Cornell, author of Sharing Nature with Children and John Muir: My Life with NatureA lifelong birder, tracker, and naturalist, Jon Young is guided by three basic premises: the robin, junco, and other songbirds know everything important about their environment, be it backyard or forest; by tuning in to their vocalizations and behavior, we can acquire much of this wisdom for our own pleasure and benefit; and the birds’ companion calls and warning alarms are just as important as their songs. Deep bird language is an ancient discipline, perfected by Native peoples the world over, and science is finally catching up. This groundbreaking book unites the indigenous knowledge, the latest research, and the author’s own experience of four decades in the field to lead us toward a deeper connection to the animals and, in the end, a deeper connection to ourselves. “Jon Young is one of the heroes of the new nature movement . . . This elegant book will deepen the kinship between humans and other species. It decodes our common language.”—Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle and Last Child in the Woods“A brilliant work, born of a lifetime of listening, teaching, and tracking what really matters . . . Jon Young’s work replenishes our humanity.”—David Abram, author of Becoming Animal and The Spell of the SensuousRewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistenceby Marc Bekoff
In wildlife conservation, rewilding refers to restoring habitats and creating corridors between preserved lands to allow declining populations to rebound. Marc Bekoff, one of the world’s leading animal experts and activists, here applies rewilding to human attitudes. Rewilding Our Hearts invites readers to do the essential work of becoming reenchanted with the world, acting from the inside out, and dissolving false boundaries to truly connect with both nature and themselves.Writing Wild: Forming a Creative Partnership with Natureby Tina Welling
Align Your Creative Energy with Nature’s“Everything we know about creating,” writes Tina Welling, “we know intuitively from the natural world.” In Writing Wild, Welling details a three-step “Spirit Walk” process for inviting nature to enliven and inspire our creativity.Soul of a Lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugeesby Barbara Bennett
For animal lovers, nature enthusiasts, and the vast readership for gripping true-life stories, this African saga is a must-read adventure. It chronicles the unique Harnas Wildlife Foundation in Namibia, where Marieta van der Merwe and her family, former wealthy cattle farmers, have sold land to buy and care for embattled wildlife. We meet Sam, the "AIDS" lion infected by mistake at a vet clinic. Boerjke, a baboon with epilepsy and Down syndrome. Savanna, the one-eyed lioness. And Marieta van der Merwe herself, the inspiring proprietor of Harnas who shares her home with needy wild animals. Survivor of an early life fraught with personal tragedy in the African Bush, she now devotes herself as care-giver and ambassador for wildlife and wildland. Told with insight, humor, and thrilling immediacy by author and Harnas volunteer Barbara Bennett, this story will captivate readers of all ages.Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Storyby Daphne Sheldrick
Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya's rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death. In this heartwarming and poignant memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Rickey-Tickey-Tavey, the little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, the busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, the mischievous zebra; and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship. But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo Park warden. It was their deep and passionate love, David's extraordinary insight into all aspects of nature, and the tragedy of his early death that inspired Daphne's vast array of achievements, most notably the founding of the world-renowned David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans' Nursery in Nairobi National Park, where Daphne continues to live and work to this day. Encompassing not only David and Daphne's tireless campaign for an end to poaching and for conserving Kenya's wildlife, but also their ability to engage with the human side of animals and their rearing of the orphans expressly so they can return to the wild, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing a rare insight into the life of one of the world's most remarkable women.The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wildby Craig Childs
Daphne Sheldrick, whose family arrived in Africa from Scotland in the 1820s, is the first person ever to have successfully hand-reared newborn elephants. Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya's rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death. In this heartwarming and poignant memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Rickey-Tickey-Tavey, the little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, the busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, the mischievous zebra; and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship. But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo Park warden. It was their deep and passionate love, David's extraordinary insight into all aspects of nature, and the tragedy of his early death that inspired Daphne's vast array of achievements, most notably the founding of the world-renowned David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans' Nursery in Nairobi National Park, where Daphne continues to live and work to this day. Encompassing not only David and Daphne's tireless campaign for an end to poaching and for conserving Kenya's wildlife, but also their ability to engage with the human side of animals and their rearing of the orphans expressly so they can return to the wild, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing a rare insight into the life of one of the world's most remarkable women.Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales Of A Botswana Safari Guideby Peter Allison
A hilarious, highly original collection of essays based on the Botswana truism: “only food runs!”In the tradition of Bill Bryson, a new writer brings us the lively adventures and biting wit of an African safari guide. Peter Allison gives us the guide’s-eye view of living in the bush, confronting the world’s fiercest terrain of wild animals and, most challenging of all, managing herds of gaping tourists. Passionate for the animals of the Kalahari, Allison works as a top safari guide in the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. As he serves the whims of his wealthy clients, he often has to stop the impulse to run as far away from them as he can, as these tourists are sometimes more dangerous than a pride of lions. No one could make up these outrageous-but-true tales: the young woman who rejected the recommended safari-friendly khaki to wear a more “fashionable” hot pink ensemble; the lost tourist who happened to be drunk, half-naked, and a member of the British royal family; establishing a real friendship with the continent’s most vicious animal; the Japanese tourist who requested a repeat performance of Allison’s being charged by a lion so he could videotape it; and spending a crazy night in the wild after blowing a tire on a tour bus, revealing that Allison has as much good-natured scorn for himself. The author’s humor is exceeded only by his love and respect for the animals, and his goal is to limit any negative exposure to humans by planning trips that are minimally invasive—unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way! Peter Allison is originally from Sydney, Australia. His safaris have been featured in National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, and on television programs such as Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. He travels frequently to speaking appearances, and splits most of his time between Botswana, Sydney, and San Francisco.The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wildby Lawrence Anthony
Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world's endangered species. Then he was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand. His common sense told him to refuse, but he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them.In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom. The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony's experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. Set against the background of life on an African game reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, Anthony's unrelenting efforts at animal protection and his remarkable connection with nature will inspire animal lovers and adventurous souls everywhere.Tracks: A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outbackby Robyn Davidson
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURERobyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company with the following words: “I experienced that sinking feeling you get when you know you have conned yourself into doing something difficult and there's no going back." Enduring sweltering heat, fending off poisonous snakes and lecherous men, chasing her camels when they get skittish and nursing them when they are injured, Davidson emerges as an extraordinarily courageous heroine driven by a love of Australia's landscape, an empathy for its indigenous people, and a willingness to cast away the trappings of her former identity. Tracks is the compelling, candid story of her odyssey of discovery and transformation.  “An unforgettably powerful book.”—Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild Now with a new postscript by Robyn Davidson.The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhoodby Helene Cooper
Journalist Helene Cooper examines the violent past of her home country Liberia and the effects of its 1980 military coup in this deeply personal memoir and finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award.Helene Cooper is “Congo,” a descendant of two Liberian dynasties—traced back to the first ship of freemen that set sail from New York in 1820 to found Monrovia. Helene grew up at Sugar Beach, a twenty-two-room mansion by the sea. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen and neegee. When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child—a common custom among the Liberian elite. Eunice, a Bassa girl, suddenly became known as “Mrs. Cooper’s daughter.” For years the Cooper daughters—Helene, her sister Marlene, and Eunice—blissfully enjoyed the trappings of wealth and advantage. But Liberia was like an unwatched pot of water left boiling on the stove. And on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'état, assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet. The Coopers and the entire Congo class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. After a brutal daylight attack by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia, for America. They left Eunice behind.A world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American teenager. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She reported from every part of the globe—except Africa—as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell.In 2003, a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia—and Eunice—could wait no longer. At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper’s long voyage home.When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africaby Peter Godwin
Hailed by reviewers as "powerful,""haunting" and "a tour de force of personal journalism,"When A Crocodile Eats the Sun is the unforgettable story of one man's struggle to discover his past and come to terms with his present. Award winning author and journalist Peter Godwin writes with pathos and intimacy about Zimbabwe's spiral into chaos and, along with it, his family's steady collapse. This dramatic memoir is a searing portrait of unspeakable tragedy and exile, but it is also vivid proof of the profound strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love."In the tradition of Rian Malan and Philip Gourevitch, a deeply moving book about the unknowability of an Africa at once thrilling and grotesque. In elegant, elegiac prose, Godwin describes his father's illness and death in Zimbabwe against the backdrop of Mugabe's descent into tyranny. His parent's waning and the country's deterioration are entwined so that personal and political tragedy become inseparable, each more profound for the presence of the other" -- Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon"A fascinating, heartbreaking, deeply illuminating memoir that has the shape and feel of a superb novel." -Kurt Anderson, author of HeydeyThe End of the Game: The Last Word from Paradiseby
A landmark book on Africa revisited: The origins, history, and prospects of big game in Africa   Researched, photographed, and compiled over 20 years, Peter Beard’s End of the Game tells the tale of the enterprisers, explorers, missionaries, and big-game hunters whose quests for adventure and "progress" were to change the face of Africa in the 20th century. This landmark volume is assembled from hundreds of historical photographs and writings, starting with the building of the Mombasa Railroad ("The Lunatic Line") and the opening-up of darkest Africa. The stories behind the heroic figures in Beard’s work—Theodore Roosevelt, Frederick Courtney Selous, Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Denys Finch-Hatton (the romantic hero of Out of Africa), Philip Percival, J. A. Hunter, Ernest Hemingway, and J. H. Patterson (who became famous as the relentless hunter of the "Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo")—are all contextualized by Beard’s own photographs of the enormous region. Shot in the 1960s and ’70s in the Tsavo lowlands during the elephant-habitat crisis and then in Uganda parks, Beard’s studies of elephant and hippo population dynamics document the inevitable overpopulation and starvation of tens of thousands of elephants and rhinos. Originally published in 1965 and updated in 1977, this classic is resurrected by TASCHEN with rich duotone reproduction and a new foreword by internationally renowned travel and fiction writer Paul Theroux. Touching on themes such as distance from nature, density and stress, loss of common sense, and global emergencies, this seminal picture history of eastern Africa in the first half of the 20th century shows us the origins of the wildlife crisis on the continent, a phenomenon which bears a remarkable resemblance to the overpopulation and climate crises we face today. Africa's Finest: The Most Sustainable Responsible Safari Destinations in Sub-Saharan and the Indian Ocean Islandsby Colin Bell
A stunning perspective of the most sustainable responsible safari destinations in sub-Saharan and the Indian Ocean Islands.When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animalsby Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall.The popularity of When Elephants Weep has swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and was profiled in People for his ground-breaking and fascinating study. Not since Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals has a book so thoroughly and effectively explored the full range of emotions that exist throughout the animal kingdom. From dancing squirrels to bashful gorillas to spiteful killer whales, Masson and coauthor Susan McCarthy bring forth fascinating anecdotes and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. Chapters on love, joy, anger, fear, shame, compassion, and loneliness are framed by a provocative re-evaluation of how we treat animals, from hunting and eating them to scientific experimentation. Forming a complete and compelling picture of the inner lives of animals, When Elephants Weep assures that we will never look at animals in the same way again.The Language of the Land: Living Among a Stone-Age People in Africaby James Stephenson
At the age of twenty-two, James Stephenson arranged to spend a year living among the Hadzabe, the last hunters and gatherers still living a traditional life in Africa. He wanted to live their life, hunting what they hunted, eating what they ate, participating in their dances and ceremonies, consulting with their medicine men, and learning their myths and dreams.Armed only with his camera, his art supplies, and the open-hearted courage of youth, he set out to visit with a people who have changed little since the Stone Age to glimpse the world as they perceived it and learn the wisdom they had wrested from the land.The Danakil Diary: Journeys Through Abyssinia, 1930-34by Wilfred Thesiger
This is an account of the two journeys Thesiger made into the Danakil country (in Abyssinia) in 1933-4 at the age of 24. In a number of ways these journeys were the most influential of his life, laying the foundations of the man considered by some to be the greatest living explorer.Bulu: African Wonder Dogby Dick Houston
Fans of narrative non-fiction, true dog stories, and African wildlife will want to check out Bulu!Born on a crocodile farm in Zambia's untamed South Luangwa Valley, the puppy seemed different from his littermates. Too quiet. Unresponsive. Terriers are usually full of energy and bouncing off walls. But not this one. Nobody wanted him. Enter Anna and Steve Tolan—former police officers who had left behind their life in England to live in the African bush. People thought the Tolans were a bit different, too. The peculiar puppy suited them perfectly. They named him Bulu, or "wild dog" in the local Nyanja language.Living in the bush, Bulu not only found his voice, he also found his calling as a foster parent to the orphaned baby animals—including warthogs, monkeys, elephants, baboons, bushbucks, and buffalo—cared for by the Tolans. But Bulu's protective nature led him into terrifying situations in the wild. It's a miracle he survived! But survive he did, disarming people with his wacky ways and nurturing once-unwanted creatures like him until they too could be set free. Bulu's story is a joyful confirmation of dogs as unique spirits, capable of love, compassion, and bravery.Packed with vivid descriptions of encounters with crocodiles, lions, leopards, poisonous snakes, armed poachers, and more—and illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs—Bulu: African Wonder Dog is a great resource for meeting Common Core State Standards that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.From the Hardcover edition.Last Stand: Ted Turner's Quest to Save a Troubled Planetby Todd Wilkinson
Entrepreneur and media mogul Ted Turner has commanded global attention for his dramatic personality, his founding of CNN, his marriage to Jane Fonda, and his company’s merger with Time Warner. But his green resume has gone largely ignored, even while his role as a pioneering eco-capitalist means more to Turner than any other aspect of his legacy. He currently owns more than two million acres of private land (more than any other individual in America), and his bison herd exceeds 50,000 head, the largest in history. He donated $1 billion to help save the UN, and has recorded dozens of other firsts with regard to wildlife conservation, fighting nukes, and assisting the poor. He calls global warming the most dire threat facing humanity, and says that the tycoons of the future will be minted in the development of green, alternative renewable energy.      Last Stand goes behind the scenes into Turner’s private life, exploring the man’s accomplishments and his motivations, showing the world a fascinating and flawed, fully three-dimensional character. From barnstorming the country with T. Boone Pickens on behalf of green energy to a pivotal night when he considered suicide, Turner is not the man the public believes him to be. Through Turner’s eyes, the reader is asked to consider another way of thinking about the environment, our obligations to help others in need, and the grave challenges threatening the survival of civilization. The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africaby Caitlin O'Connell
While observing a family of elephants in the wild, Caitlin O’Connell noticed a peculiar listening behavior—the matriarch lifted her foot and scanned the horizon, causing the other elephants to follow suit, as if they could “hear” the ground. The Elephant’s Secret Sense is O’Connell’s account of her groundbreaking research into seismic listening and communication, chronicling the extraordinary social lives of elephants over the course of fourteen years in the Namibian wilderness.            This compelling odyssey of scientific discovery is also a frank account of fieldwork in a poverty-stricken, war-ravaged country. In her attempts to study an elephant community, O’Connell encounters corrupt government bureaucrats, deadly lions and rhinos, poachers, farmers fighting for arable land, and profoundly ineffective approaches to wildlife conservation. The Elephant’s Secret Sense is ultimately a story of intellectual courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. “I was transported by the author’s superbly sensuous descriptions of her years spent studying the animals. . . . Conjures a high-class nature documentary film in prose.”—Steven Poole, Guardian “A ride as rough and astonishing as the roads of the African floodplain.”—Joan Keener, Entertainment Weekly “A successful combination of science and soulfulness, explaining her groundbreaking theory of how elephants use seismic communication. . . . O’Connell’s account is studded with sympathetic insights and well-turned phrases.”—Publishers Weekly “This fascinating book reads like a fast-paced detective story of a scientific discovery and adventure set in contemporary Africa. . . . By the end, O’Connell takes her rightful place among the leading biographers of the African elephant.”—Iain Douglas-Hamilton, author of Among the Elephants  Behind the Dolphin smile: One Man's Campaign to Protect the World's Dolphinsby Richard O'Barry
Behind the Dolphin Smile is the heart-felt true story of an animal lover who dedicated his life to studying and training dolphins, but in the process discovered that he ultimately needed to set them free. Ric O’Barry shares his journey with dolphins and other sea mammals in this captivating autobiographical look back at his years as a dolphin trainer for aquatic theme parks, movies, and television. Also included is a preface relaying a first-hand account of his adventures filming the 2010 Academy Award–winning documentary The Cove, which covertly uncovered Japan’s inhumane dolphin-hunting practices. O’Barry, a successful animal trainer who had had everything—money, flashy cars, pretty women—came to realize that dolphins were easy to train, not because of his great talent, but because they possessed great intelligence, and that keeping them in captivity was cruel and morally wrong. O’Barry now dedicates his life to stopping the exploitation of these exceptional mammals by retraining them to return to their natural habitats.Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congoby Vanessa Woods
A young woman follows her fiancé to war-torn Congo to study extremely endangered bonobo apes-who teach her a new truth about love. In 2005 Vanessa Woods accepted a marriage proposal from a man she barely knew and agreed to join him on a research trip to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Settling in at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo's capital, Vanessa and her fiancé entered the world of a rare ape with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA and who live in a peaceful society in which females are in charge, war is nonexistent, and sex is as common and friendly as a handshake. A fascinating memoir of hope and adventure, Bonobo Handshake traces Vanessa's self-discovery as she finds herself falling deeply in love with her husband, the apes, and her new surroundings in this true story of revelation and transformation in a fragile corner of Africa.West With The Nightby Beryl Markham
West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her adventureful life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s.An aviator, she transport live cargo, hunters,scientists and explorers on her single engine plane. She was known to be one of the best flighers that you could find and count on.This books is regarded by many as one of the best adventure books ever!The Beast in the Garden: The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban Americaby David Baron
"Reads like a crime novel . . . each chapter ends on a cliff-hanging note."―Seattle Times When residents of Boulder, Colorado, suddenly began to see mountain lions in their backyards, it became clear that the cats had returned after decades of bounty hunting had driven them far from human settlement. In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town's tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing, The Beast in the Garden is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity.The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa's Wildlifeby Kobie Kruger
When Kobie Kruger, her game-ranger husband and their three young daughters moved to one of the most isolated corners of the world - a remote ranger station in the Mahlangeni region of South Africa's vast Kruger National Park - she might have worried that she would become engulfed with loneliness and boredom. Yet, for Kobie and her family, the seventeen years spent in this spectacularly beautiful park proved to be the most magical - and occasionally the most hair-raising - of their lives. Kobie recounts their enchanting adventures and extraordinary experiences in this vast reserve - a place where, bathed in golden sunlight, hippos basked in the glittering waters of the Letaba River, storks and herons perched along the shoreline, and fruit bats hung in the sausage trees. But as the Krugers settled in, they discovered that not all was peace and harmony. They soon became accustomed to living with the unexpected: the sneaky hyenas who stole blankets and cooking pots, the sinister-looking pythons that slithered into the house, and the usually placid elephants who grew foul-tempered in the violent heat of the summer. And one terrible day, a lion attacked Kobus in the bush and nearly killed him. Yet nothing prepared the Krugers for their greatest adventure of all, the raising of an orphaned prince, a lion cub who, when they found him, was only a few days old and on the verge of death. Reared on a cocktail of love and bottles of fat-enriched milk, Leo soon became an affectionate, rambunctious and adored member of the fmaily. It is the rearing of this young king, and the hilarious endeavours to teach him to become a 'real' lion who could survive with his own kind in the wild, that lie at the heart of this endearing memoir. It is a memoir of a magical place and time that can never be recaptured.Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birderby Kenn Kaufman
Now revered as one of North America's top birders, Kenn Kaufman hit the road at age sixteen and spent a year crisscrossing the country to see as many birds as he could, in a birding competition known as a "big year." In what has become a classic among birders, this memoir chronicles the subculture of birding in the 1970s and a teenager's search for his place in the world. In a new afterword, Kaufman looks at the evolution of bird-listing since his own big year.The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joyby Michael McCarthy
Moth SnowstormThe Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birdsby Julie Zickefoose
Julie Zickefoose lives for the moment when a wild, free living bird that she has raised or rehabilitated comes back to visit her; their eyes meet and they share a spark of understanding. Her reward for the grueling work of rescuing birds—such as feeding baby hummingbirds every twenty minutes all day long—is her empathy with them and the satisfaction of knowing the world is a birdier and more beautiful place. The Bluebird Effect is about the change that's set in motion by one single act, such as saving an injured bluebird—or a hummingbird, swift, or phoebe. Each of the twenty five chapters covers a different species, and many depict an individual bird, each with its own personality, habits, and quirks. And each chapter is illustrated with Zickefoose's stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not just individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds, The Bluebird Effect mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds. Cathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Homeby Boyd Varty
Boyd Varty had an unconventional upbringing. He grew up on Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, a place where man and nature strive for balance, where perils exist alongside wonders. Founded more than eighty years ago as a hunting ground, Londolozi was transformed into a nature reserve beginning in 1973 by Varty’s father and uncle, visionaries of the restoration movement. But it wasn’t just a sanctuary for the animals; it was also a place for ravaged land to flourish again and for the human spirit to be restored. When Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, he came to the reserve to recover.   Cathedral of the Wild is Varty’s memoir of his life in this exquisite and vast refuge. At Londolozi, Varty gained the confidence that emerges from living in Africa. “We came out strong and largely unafraid of life,” he writes, “with the full knowledge of its dangers.” It was there that young Boyd and his equally adventurous sister learned to track animals, raised leopard and lion cubs, followed their larger-than-life uncle on his many adventures filming wildlife, and became one with the land. Varty survived a harrowing black mamba encounter, a debilitating bout with malaria, even a vicious crocodile attack, but his biggest challenge was a personal crisis of purpose. An intense spiritual quest takes him across the globe and back again—to reconnect with nature and “rediscover the track.”   Cathedral of the Wild is a story of transformation that inspires a great appreciation for the beauty and order of the natural world. With conviction, hope, and humor, Varty makes a passionate claim for the power of the wild to restore the human spirit.   Praise for Cathedral of the Wild  “Extremely touching . . . a book about growth and hope.”—The New York Times   “It made me cry with its hard-won truths about human and animal nature. . . . Both funny and deeply moving, this book belongs on the shelf of everyone who seeks healing in wilderness.”—BookPage“This is a gorgeous, lyrical, hilarious, important book. Boyd Varty is as brilliant a storyteller and as kind a companion as you’ll ever meet. He describes a life that has been spent forging a new way of thinking and being, in harmony with both Nature writ large and the human nature that is you. Read this and you may find yourself instinctively beginning to heal old wounds: in yourself, in others, and just maybe in the cathedral of the wild that is our true home.”—Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star   “Cathedral of the Wild is the captivating story of the joyful, occasionally terrifying, but always interesting life of Boyd Varty. It is also a tale of healing, and of one family’s passion to restore our broken connection to nature. Be prepared to fall in love with Varty, his sister, his parents, his uncle, the ideals they fiercely hold to protect the African bush, and the wild animals and people that surround them. With his campfire wit and poet’s ear, Varty is a wonderful new voice in adventure writing.”—Susan Casey, author of The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean“From the first chapter of Cathedral of the Wild, Boyd Varty’s South Africa grabs your heart, rather like the giant mamba he encountered as a boy. The deadly snake moved on, but Varty’s stories stick.”—Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle

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Magical Okavango Delta

Much of Botswana lies within the arid Kalahari Desert. But in the north west of the country there is an immense inland delta river system, which spreads over 6,500 square miles (10,460 kilometers), called the Okavango Delta. Summer rains (Dec –Feb) in Angola flow into the delta from March – July, swelling the permanent waters there to three times their normal size.

 

I just spent a month exploring this region.

 

The arrival of the water coincides with Botswana’s dry season creating an oasis that attracts vast herds of animals from the dryer areas. From one day to the next the dry brown grasses in the plains behind Mombo Trails Camp turned green. And hundreds of impala and buffalo appeared, up to their knees in water, munching the newly green fodder.

 

The only transportation to one of the places I stayed, Little Vumburu, was by boat. The driver, aptly named Speedy, raced through narrow passages flushing out malachite kingfishers, egrets, and sacred ibis from the tall bamboo-like reeds that lined both sides of the boat’s channel.

 

The Okavango Delta is full of islands, formed when vegetation takes root into fertile termite mounds. This camp was on a big island and at night reed frogs filled the air with what sounded like millions of bamboo chimes – tink, tink, tink. Within several feet of my tent hippos grunted about territories and discontent, then chewed and pushed through water on their nightly feeding route.

 

Safari vehicles here are designed to drive through water as seamlessly as if they are boats. The animals too are adapted to the seasonal floods.

 

The first time I heard elephants moving through water from one island to the next, I was hooked on the sound. It was laborious. They gently placed each front foot with caution, trying to avoid holes, crocodiles and hippos although those two would also try to evade the elephants. And when the river is deep, there is no sight so special as watching elephants swim. (watch my video of elephants tussling in the Chobe river here. 

 

I’m told even the lions and cheetah swim from island to island this time of the year to find prey and mates.

 

A mokoro ride provided an intimate water-level view. My poler pushed a long wooden pole against the muddy bottom to propel the two-seater canoe silently through water lilies and over 40 species of dragonflies. Hippos, the most dangerous animal in Africa, with only their eyes and ears above water, watched us, angrily protesting with wide mouth grunts if we came too near. A Pels fishing owl, a rare sighting, flew away from a leaping water antelope, called a red lechwe.

 

 

The dry areas are covered in Kalahari desert sand as fine as powered sugar. My shoes were laden with it. Animals use the sandy vehicle roads for ease of movement leaving easily interpreted footprints for the guides. “This is a civet cat who walked this direction this morning. Lions are heading that way now.“

 

Lion print in Kalahari Sand.

 

We found this elephant using a termite mound to reach the higher branches of a marula tree.

 

I’m hooked on the magic of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. I just returned home and I’m already planning my next trip back. Next time I want to see lions and cheetah swim.

 

 

 

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Wildlife Conservationists and the Animals they Love

Wildlife conservationists are often called crazy, unrealistic, and a dying breed. They are also called super heroes, and wildlife’s last hope.

 

In Wild Lives, Leading Conservationists and the Animals and Planet They Love, you will meet twenty of the world’s top wildlife conservationists. People who are saving cheetah, penguins, giraffes, dolphins, lions, elephants, wolves, birds and bears.

 

Wildlife Conservationists Farwiza Farhan with Leonardo DiCaprio (photo: Paul Hilton)

 

 

What Jane Goodall and others say about Wild Lives (Stories of Leading Wildlife Conservationists)

 

“Almost every day we hear one more story about a species facing extinction, a habitat destroyed. And indeed, planet earth has never been so threatened by human actions. This is why Wild Lives is so desperately important. The wildlife conservationists in this book are united by their belief that it is not too late to turn things around. You will be inspired by their stories. You will realize that there is hope for the future if we join the fight, if each of us does our bit.”

—Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, and UN Messenger of Peace, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute

 

 

“A children’s-zoo veterinarian who became an advocate for the world’s dwindling cheetah population. An intrepid Indian scientist who confronted the dangerous scourge of elephant poaching. A pioneering female biologist who became the world’s leading expert on giraffes. Who knows why some people develop the passion that defines their life’s work? For some, such as investigative wildlife photojournalist Paul Hilton, it was a love of animals that started in childhood. For others, such as internationally renowned treetop ecologist Meg Lowman, it was an affinity for nature that began in the woods of rural upstate New York. With the world facing an unprecedented spate of species extinction, the survival of iconic wildlife, such as the polar bear and such lesser-known creatures as Israel’s long-billed hoopoe, is often up to courageous individuals who commit to their passion and sacrifice their comfort so that the planet maintains a healthy biodiversity. Thanks to the environmentally committed interviewers Robinson and Chodosh, twenty conservationists succinctly tell their stories in this illuminating volume.“

—Booklist book-review magazine

 

 

“The twenty lives documented in this compelling book are truly remarkable in their diversity and commitment to conservation of species and habitats. I loved reading about each and every one of them, the different problems they encounter protecting animals and their bold and insightful solutions—a wonderful read.”

—Jane Alexander, actress; author of Wild Things, Wild Places

 

 

“Fighting for sanctuary and safety for those most precious to them, these wildlife heroes are up against extraordinary odds, yet their courage and sacrifice remains undaunted. From melting icecaps to humid jungles, these people have dedicated their lives to helping those who can never say thank you. Robinson and Chodosh weave masterful narratives around these people, in stories that are even more astounding because they are true. Wild Lives brings into clear focus the incredible animals with whom we share the world. Be careful, it will make you want to quit your job and join the fight to save them.”

—Vanessa Woods, New York Times bestselling author of Bonobo Handshake

 

 

Find Wild Lives at bookstores nationwide (USA), and on Amazon (in many countries). Take a look inside here:

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Improving the World One Bird Box at a Time

This bird box story was told to me by Janie Chodosh, the co-author of my new book, Wild Lives. I loved the story so much I asked her to write it up for all of you to read. I think it’s a perfect inspirational tale in celebration of Earth Day. 

 

 

Improving the World One Bird Box at a Time

My husband has gone crazy—but not in the way you might think.

After finding a dead bewick’s wren that he had accidentally killed in our garage, he decided to make amends by building a bird box to give these lovely songbirds a place to nest. His logic made perfect sense to me: if he could make a home for a pair of bewick’s wrens to nest and fledge young, he’d add to the population and feel less horrific about the deceased bird.

One trip to the lumber store later, he built a beautiful nest box, put it up in a tree, and together we admired his work. But making one bird box, it turns out, wasn’t enough for my husband. If one box was good, one a week for a whole year, a total of 52, would be better.

 

 

Bird box inspection from a black-capped chickadee.

 

Twenty nesting boxes later, some with smaller holes for chickadees and titmice, others with larger holes for tyrant flycatchers (and one for a downy woodpecker who whittled out the hole to her own liking), I convinced him to stop. Some species, it turns out, won’t nest if too many other birds of the same kind are in close proximity, and our yard was already maxed out in the bird box sense. It was on the verge of becoming urban crowding for the bird world.

He didn’t want to stop, though, so I suggested he gift his ongoing supply of nesting boxes to other people who adore our feathered companions as much as we do.

Gifting bird boxes, it turns out, wasn’t enough for him either, so he coined phase three of the project: building nest boxes and surreptitiously placing them in open spaces around town. This project morphed from his project to our project. I love the whole idea of guerilla habitat improvement. It reminds me of Miss Rumphius, the picture book I used to read to my daughter about the woman who planted lupine flowers across her community as a way to make the world more beautiful. With the fabulous Miss Alice Rumphius as my mentor, my husband and I placed our first nest box in a cottonwood tree in the open space behind our house— a perfect location for some habitat improvement. Next we plan to adorn unsuspecting trees in city parks, places where there are birds, but no habitat for cavity nesters to have a good tree hole in which to raise their young.

I don’t know what will happen in these guerilla locations, but I know what has happened in my back yard. With the water, seed, nesting fluff (a ball of wool offering for birds to line their nests) and 20 nest boxes, our yard has become a bird sanctuary, a back yard habitat where any bird is welcome and none is turned away.

We might not be saving the world with our bird boxes, but certainly some chickadees, wrens, titmice, and woodpeckers are enjoying a little extra help this spring in finding a place to raise their young.

I like to think that the bewick’s wren that died in the garage would be pleased.

 

 

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Asian Elephants and the Man who is Saving Them

With more than eight hundred large tea estates and thousands of smaller tea gardens yielding more than seven hundred million pounds of black tea annually, Assam, India is the most productive tea-producing region in the world. The state is also home to more than 10 percent of the world’s remaining Asian elephants.

With an explosive human population and hardly any habitat available for a mega herbivore that requires six hundred pounds of food and one hundred gallons of water each day, the elephants of the region tend to congregate in what space is available: tea plantations.

Unfortunately, tea and elephants don’t mix.

Wild Asian Elephants in Apeejay tea garden.

“Tea plantations are death traps for elephants,” says Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma, India’s beloved elephant doctor. “There’s not a blade of grass for them to eat. There are pesticides on the leaves, weedicides on the ground, and little or nothing for them to drink—and if there is any water, it is highly contaminated with harmful chemicals. There are trenches elephant calves often fall into and sagging electric lines.”

The Udalgari district of Assam is thought to have the highest rate of human-elephant conflict in the world. In this densely populated area, desperate and hungry elephants trample homes, raid rice paddy fields, and sometimes a stressed animal kills a person. For the elephants, the situation is no easier. They face an obstacle course of threats, including poisoning by pesticides, trenches, electrocution, and an overall loss of habitat.

 

Asian Elephants Revered

Elephants have an important role and a complex history in India, where they are revered as the incarnation of the elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha in the Hindu religion. Aside from the approximately five thousand to six thousand wild Asian elephants in Assam, and ten thousand in the region, there are an additional one thousand two hundred captive ones. Not only does Dr. Sarma look after and care for the majority of these captive elephants, but he often risks his life to save them—and to save villagers.

 

Restraining and treating aggressive elephants is a physically demanding task, but at age fifty-seven, Dr. Sarma shows no signs of slowing down. With his deep brown eyes, thick mustache, and baseball cap, there is youthfulness to the elephant doctor, who says that in his thirty- year career he has never taken off a weekend. Weekend highlights have included getting defecated on by an elephant to whom he was giving an enema, being covered in leeches as he hiked through forests to track a rogue, and, more than once, nearly getting killed—all to save elephants. While he could make a lot more money working full time with dogs and cats in an air-conditioned office, it is not money that motivates him.

 

“What elephants have done for me I could not repay in ten lifetimes. My heart is with the forest, with the land, with the people, and most of all, with the elephants, the last of the greatest creatures on earth. Without the elephants, I am nobody.”

 

Although deforestation and population growth go hand in hand, what Dr. Sarma would like most is for the remaining forests to be left untouched. “One should not just think of the forests as a source of livelihood, be it collecting fodder for animals, firewood for our kitchen fire or fireplace, and clearing the forest for cultivation and settlement,” he says. “We must think about the value of forests for our source of oxygen and water and for the very survival of all species on earth, and we must educate young people.”

 

**This excerpt about Dr. Sarma and his asian elephants is just one of the twenty stories of leading conservationists in my new book (co-authored with Janie Chodosh), Wild Lives. Take a look inside here:

 

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Nature Words Go Extinct – You won’t believe why

I recently attended a talk by eco warrior and nature words writer Terry Tempest Williams. Although she is a great speaker I can only remember one thing from the two-hour event.

 

About half way through her talk Terry told the audience that the following words have been removed from the new version of the Oxford Junior Dictionary:

 

Acorn, almond, apricot, ash

Beech, blackberry, bloom, bramble, buttercup

Carnation, cauliflower, cheetah, clover, colt, crocus

Dandelion

Fern, ferret, fungus

Gooseberry, goldfish

Herring

Ivy

Mint, monarch, minnow

Nectar

Otter, oyster

Panther, pelican, porcupine, porpoise, pasture, primrose

Raven

Thrush, tulip

Violet

Willow, weasel, wren

 

Removed. All these rich, alive, nature words…now gone.

 

Terry then told us that when the editor of the Dictionary was asked why these words were pulled out, the editor replied, “Because these words no longer have a role in our children’s childhood.”

 

I was stunned. And sad.

 

When we don’t have a word to describe something (or some being), doesn’t it make it easier to detach ourselves from it? Or not even have an awareness of that un-named ‘thing’ in the first place?

 

Without words for buttercup, panther and otter, won’t it be easier for our children, who are already struggling from nature deficit disorder, to never know a buttercup, panther or otter?

 

Mother and baby otter.

 

In what realm does a buttercup, panther or otter exist if there is no word to describe it?

 

Does the editor believe these words are no longer relevant for our children because she thinks these species are on the verge of extinction? Does she think  by the time the children reading the Junior Dictionary reach adulthood that blackberries, porpoises and monarchs will no longer exist? Is her rationale: why bother learning the words of something that won’t be around much longer?

 

Does the dictionary editor think she is doing our children a favor? Does she believe that not having names for cheetah, pelican and wren will make our children less likely to notice when the last cheetah, pelican and wren leave this earth forever? Or when the last acorn, crocus and pasture get covered over? Will it make them less sad?

 

Nature Words Replaced

 

These are some of the words that have been newly added to the Oxford Junior Dictionary:

 

Allergic, analog

Boisterous, block

Conflict, chatroom, classified, compulsory, creep, cut & paste

Database, donate, dyslexic

MP3 player

Vandalism, voicemail

 

 

How long before the editors remove elephant, whale, bluebird and nature from our children’s “relevant” word list?

And what new words will replace those nature words?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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When is Earth Day? Every Day.

When is Earth Day? This year it falls on April 22. It is a day to celebrate, praise and notice Mother Earth. A day to remember all she is, all she does, and all she gives. A reminder that without Mother Earth, none of us would be alive.

For Earth Day, and every day for that matter, go outside. Take some deep breaths. Soak up the sunlight. Taste the air on your tongue, feel the wind kiss your cheeks, let your bare feet meet the dirt, grass, and sand.

Go for a walk. Look, listen and smell the world around you. Engage all of your senses and notice what you often don’t. Notice the breathtaking display of flowers and bushes, grasses and trees – everywhere. Breathe in their scents. Notice the chirps, buzz and clicks of birds, insects, and squirrels. What are they saying?  Notice the colors – every shade of every color, everywhere. 

Say outloud, hello natural world, I see you. 

And then try to comprehend the miraculous biodiversity of life. Try to imagine all that Mother Nature is, all that Mother Nature has and all that Mother Nature does for us. Really try to understand—reach and bend and stretch until your heart and mind are gaping.

Then celebrate her.

Kiss the trees. Dance in a meadow. Sing with the birds. Play in the dirt. Join the animals and the birds and the angels, the silent song of the flowers and trees in praise of her.

And honor her with a commitment to action.

Pick up litter, plant a garden, feed the birds, remove a fence, let a weed grow, let a raccoon share your patio, save a spider.  

Let her know you are grateful…. So grateful.

Wish Mother Earth a happy Earth Day and make a promise that when people ask when is Earth Day, you will answer, “Every day!”

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Wild Lives

Wild Lives, Leading Conservationists on the Animals and Planet They Love.

 

Luckily for all of us, there are human superheroes. More than you know. More than you might think. More than you’d guess. And when a species doesn’t go extinct, when birds still migrate, where giraffes still run and lions still rule and elephants continue trumpeting to the sky—it’s because of them.

 

It’s because of them that many whales once near extinction are now common again in some parts of the ocean, and falcons are back and eagles soar in greater numbers and wolves again roam where they were missing for a hundred years. Only a super human could do that. And they have. That’s what they do, and they’re doing it at this very moment.

So get ready. You’re going to meet them in Wild Lives. *

 

Wild Lives is a compilation of the personal stories of twenty leading conservationists across the globe. Some of the people in Wild Lives have been thrown in jail and thrown out of countries, are hated by hunters and hunted by rebels. They work in some of the remotest areas in the world, in all kinds of weather. They have used sea ice for a pillow, been charged by elephants and buffalo, bitten by snakes, and chased by rhino. “I can’t even recall how many times I’ve had malaria or nearly died,” says Dereck Joubert. All of them are breaking boundaries, trying new ways of doing things, and challenging the status quo, such as Yossi Leshem, using birds to bring peace in the Middle East; Farwiza Farhan, speaking out against corporations to save the Leuser Ecosystem; and Megan Parker, training dogs to stop poachers.

 

Wild Lives is devoted to the notion that conservation can, does, and will work. This book is for everyone who has a passion for saving wildlife and wild places.

 

Thomas Lovejoy believes if something is not yet gone, it can still be saved. We are facing a dark time, but as Mike Chase reminds us, like the twenty human super heroes in Wild Lives, we must all be stubborn optimists; otherwise we all lose.

 

Buy Wild Lives before April 18th on Amazon for the pre-order price ($7 less than retail). 

Love, Lori R

*Excerpt from the foreword by Carl Safina for Wild Lives.

Featured photo is Mike Chase. Photo credit Kelly Landen from Elephants Without Borders.

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Wildlife Day

Although we here at SavingWild.com celebrate and work towards protecting animals every day of the year, designating a wildlife day for one species, or a group of animals – as in Endangered Species Day or International Primate Day – has become popular. It’s a day to focus your efforts, collaborate with others who share your love for a particular species, and for the animal to get extra worldwide attention on the plight of their species.

 

What does it take to start a day in honor of a species? Sometimes the celebrated day is a social media event started by a passionate individual like yourself. In other cases it is a more formal affair. For instance beekeepers in the USA petitioned the United States Department of Agriculture in 2009 for an official day (August 20th) for honey bees.

 

The list below includes the days celebrating wildlife, but not the weeks that are sometimes designated – as the third week in September for Sea Otter Awareness Week.

 

Although a designated day, or a week a year, for wildlife is a good thing, our goal here at SavingWild.com is for every animal to be celebrated, respected, and acknowledged as an equally important part of the ecosystem, and our lives, EVERYDAY of the year.

 

LIST OF WILDLIFE DAY DESIGNATIONS

January 5          National Bird Day

 

January 31        International Zebra Day

 

February 27      International Polar Bear Day

 

March 3             World Wildlife Day   http://www.wildlifeday.org

 

March 14           National Learn About Butterflies Day

 

May 4                 Bird Day

 

May 13               International Bird Day

 

May 20               Endangered Species Day

 

June 21              World Giraffe Day

 

July 28               International Tiger Day

 

August 10          World Lion Day

 

August 12           World Elephant Day

 

August 13           International Wolf Day

 

August 20           World Honey Bee Day

 

August 26           Mountain Lion Day

 

August 27           Dog Day

 

September 1       International Primate Day

 

September 21     Rhino Day

 

October 1            Raccoon Appreciation Day

 

October 4            World Animal Day

 

October 23          International Snow Leopard Day

 

November (1st Saturday) National Bison Day

 

December 4        International Cheetah Day

 

December 4        International Wildlife Conservation Day

 

 

I hope you will let me know in the comments below of any dates I am missing on this wildlife day list.

*Featured photo by Henry Holdsworth, Wild by Nature Gallery

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The Best Wildlife Blogs

In the world of wildlife blogs SavingWild.com is lonely.

You can find hundreds of blogs about cooking, fashion, and makeup. But try finding even a dozen good wildlife blogs. Believe me, there aren’t that many. 

That’s why I decided to highlight my favorite wildlife blogs for you. I went searching so you don’t have to. My list includes wildlife blogs I have been following for quite a while and some I collaborate with.

I love them each for different reasons.

 

Five of my Favorite Wildlife Blogs

My Green World

Based in Australia, the founder of My Green World is Natalie Kyriacou. She is a powerhouse herself having won awards for being among the young movers and shakers in conservation. I love her blog, not just because she interviewed me and SavingWild is a partner, but because she covers a wide variety of topics that are written well.

Read it for great coverage on timely topics.  

 

     2. Defenders of Wildlife

The blog from one of America’s largest wildlife NGOs. Super informative about issues facing wildlife across this country. 

Read it for their weekly wildlife news wrap up.

 

      3. Africa Geographic

They have been my favorite magazine for years. They have gone from a paper edition to an online magazine and years ago when they started their blog I was thrilled that they asked me to write for them. When my book Saving Wild came out they did a feature  in their typical style of amazing photos and great editorials. As their name implies their coverage focuses on Africa.

Read it for information about Africa and for amazing photos of wildlife. 

 

     4. The Featured Creature

When Featured Creature reached out to me to be a guest blogger on SavingWild.com I was curious. I love what they do, highlighting all the beings (creatures) in the world, especially those that are most over-looked, for their magnificence, intrigue, beauty and strangeness.

Read it for weird facts.

 

     5. Earth Touch News:

For the latest news and emerging stories about the natural world go to Earth Touch News Network. Their writers, filmmakers and other contributors from across the globe bring you closer to the most urgent conservation issues of our time, and show you just how fun and fascinating the natural world can be.

Read it for latest news.

 

and SavingWild.com

Of course if I weren’t the one writing this I would include SavingWild.com in this list of best wildlife blogs.