WILDLIFE IN AMERICA

by Peter Matthiessen ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

This unique history of the decline and fall of American wildlife surveys in remarkable detail the status of the birds, fish and mammals of North America from before the white man's arrival to the present day. Presenting the facts imaginatively and from a distinctly conservationist point of view, the author relates the natural histories of all manner of wildlife, present and missing, telling where, why and how the missing vanished, and what is being done today to preserve those that remain. Besides the better known stories of the passenger pigeon and the bison, he describes a host of other beasts, fish and fowl that have suffered similar fates, or are about to. He discusses the early naturalist writers, later conservationists, the establishment of the American Ornithological Union, the Audubon Society, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the wildlife in present day Alaska. The book contains 150 line drawings by Bob Hines, photographs, and eight full-color reproductions of paintings by the Audubons, Alexander Wilson, Titian Peale, and Mark Catesby. There is a list of rare and extinct species, a chronology of wildlife legislation, an exhaustive bibliography, and an introduction by Richard H. Pough. Filled with fascinating and revealing detail for the nature lover and enthusiast, it will not hold the attention of the person with only a cursory interest. It is a must for the natural history sections of bookstores and all libraries.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION