REWILDING

The practice of repopulating nearly extinct animals and plant life is explained and illustrated in great detail.

What do the Arabian onyx, the Iberian lynx, and the peregrine falcon have in common? Each of these animals was in danger of becoming extinct or of disappearing from a home habitat, at least until researchers stepped in to protect them. This exhaustive volume tells the stories of several dozen animals and plants that were brought back from the brink. The book explains the concept of rewilding up front, showing how biologists are able to help these creatures gain numbers and then reenter nature. But far from a glossing over of what happens then, Steen also explains why some of these efforts fail, arguments against the practice (for instance, introducing predators near populated areas is potentially risky), and, most importantly, how to help these efforts. In detailing why environmental changes caused by humans can cause a chain reaction leading to the decimation of, say, the Kihansi spray toad, the team offers a nuanced view of why bad things can happen to ecosystems even unintentionally. Most interesting is that each species and habitat is a whole new challenge; there’s no one-size-fits-all cure-all that can restore a balance in nature, and sometimes achieving balance isn’t possible. This nuanced view holds throughout the book’s 80 finely illustrated pages, where the animals are presented not as cutesy anthropomorphized creatures but in a realistic, no-less-endearing style. For younger readers, it may not be a volume that’s consumed in one sitting, but there’s enough variety of stories and helpful additions, such as a glossary and a “What Can You Do?” page, that it’s a book worth returning to multiple times. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fascinating primer on the intricacies of ecosystems.