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Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction
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About This Book
A vibrant history of the modern conservation movement—told through the lives and ideas of the people who built it. In the late nineteenth century, as humans came to realize that our rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving other animal species to extinction, a movement to protect and conserve them was born. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the movement's history: 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. She describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson as well as lesser-known figures in conservation history; she reveals the origins of vital organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund; she explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros; and she confronts the darker side of conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism. As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change escalate, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species—including our own.
Reviews
"Nijhuis is an engaging storyteller as well as a self-described 'lapsed biologist,' weaving this history with firsthand accounts of those on the front lines of species preservation today ..."
"Compassionate yet realistic and candid throughout, Nijhuis makes a significant contribution to the literature on environmentalism."
"As she lays out the origins of environmental groups including the World Wildlife Fund and Nature Conservancy, Nijhuis warns that organizations and governments are not doing enough to stave off mass extinction ..."
"Writing with warmth and humor, science journalist Nijhuis offers innumerable stories of the men and women—birders, scientists, hunters, and others—who played seminal roles in the haphazard advancement of modern species conservation ..."
"With urgency, passion, and wit, Nijhuis recognizes those possibilities clearly and writes both to preserve history and predict what may lie ahead ..."
"Nijhuis spotlights key moments in the evolution of ecological thought and practice inspired by the likes of biodiversity defender Edward O."
"at its best in illuminating the passing of the conservation torch from one advocate to the next."
"She also segues into the challenges facing conservationists today, such as climate change, organized crime and corporate interests."
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