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In Why Whales Sing, cognitive scientist Dr. Eduardo Mercado III challenges decades of scientific research into the purpose behind humpback whale song, in which the prevailing view is that it is a function of sexual selection and is used by males to attract a mate. He argues that humpback whales may instead be using their songs
A wealth of scientific articles, how-to books, and online videos instruct and inform humans on how to tell animals what we want them to do: sit, stay, don’t eat the flowers in my garden, etc. However, in typical anthropocentric fashion, decidedly less attention has been devoted to understanding the messages animals are sending us. Author, naturalist,
In Discovering the Okapi: Western Science, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Search for a Rainforest Enigma, Dr. Simon Pooley, a scientist with a particular focus on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, examines the plight of the endangered okapi—closest living relative of the giraffe—which dwells in the shadows of the Ituri rainforests of northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. He
Unwanted: The Causes and Effects of America’s Horse Population Crisis, began as a project to give Christina Keim’s University of New Hampshire students a comprehensive source on the issues facing America’s horses when they are sold or otherwise surrendered by their owners. The result is a deeply researched work that blends narrative storytelling with interviews
Turtles have long sparked curiosity and affection, and Sy Montgomery captures humankind’s fascination with them in The True and Lucky Life of a Turtle. This nonfiction book introduces young readers to Fire Chief, a snapping turtle whose decades-long presence in a community is threatened by the town’s growth. With warmth and realism, Montgomery tells Fire Chief’s
A beagle named Hammy was fostered and then adopted by Melanie Kaplan. But Hammy wasn’t just any dog: He had been in a research laboratory for almost four years prior to his arrival at Kaplan’s home. As a journalist and investigator, Kaplan sought to learn about her beloved dog’s previous life. Her book, Lab Dog: A
In Ocean with David Attenborough, the legendary naturalist (who turned 99 in May) takes the viewer on a breathtaking tour of Earth’s marine ecosystems, from the coastal seas and kelp forests to sea grass meadows, sea mounts, and the open ocean. The documentary is full of interesting facts (e.g., around 2,000 new marine species are discovered
In Gail Eisnitz’s memoir, Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival, she recounts a 40-year career working to understand and expose the gruesome truth about the unconscionable ways millions of cattle, pigs, chickens, and other farmed species are raised and killed in factory farms and slaughter plants across the
Elias Weiss Friedman—creator of the wildly popular social media brand, The Dogist—begins This Dog Will Change Your Life by describing how his Labrador retriever, Oreo, saved his life when he was a toddler by herding him back on the sidewalk after he got lost in the neighborhood. The book, written with former New Yorker editor Ben Greenman, also explores
In Slither: How Nature’s Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World, science writer Stephen S. Hall offers a fascinating exploration of snakes. Drawing from the humanities and science, Hall reframes these animals not as cold-blooded symbols of evil, but as influential players in natural and human history. They have appeared in our stories for millennia, from
The isolated, white-furred wolves of Ellesmere Island, Canada, are distinctive among their species in that they have not been conditioned over generations to fear humans. On the second closest land mass to the North Pole, they let researcher L. David Mech observe their dens and hunts uninhibited for the better part of 24 summers. In
Cara Achterberg is the cofounder and board president of the nonprofit organization Who Will Let the Dogs Out. In Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues, she chronicles the conditions of dogs in shelters across the southern United States. Through storytelling, data collection, and personal anecdotes, Achterberg has penned
Who better to teach us about the current extinction crisis than three of the world’s top ecologists? The authors of Before They Vanish: Saving Nature’s Populations—and Ourselves, Drs. Paul Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos, and Rodolfo Dirzo, have written some of the most important scientific papers on the subject. The book draws upon their many decades studying endangered
Carrie Newell, a marine biologist and whale-watching guide in the Pacific Northwest, has had great success over the years training her companion dogs to locate gray whales when they return from Mexico each summer. In her children’s book, Koda and the Whales: A True Story, Newell conveys her enthusiasm and knowledge through the eyes of Koda,
Katherine Rundell’s Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures offers a brisk and enjoyable examination of a wide range of species, all remarkable in their own right—and all at risk of being lost forever. Rundell, a fellow of the University of Oxford’s St. Catherine’s College, deftly weaves an array of literary and historical sources throughout the
Distinguished medical historian Dr. John Parascandola offers an engaging, thought-provoking, and well-researched account of the growth of animal experimentation and the parallel rise of the animal protection movement in the United States and Great Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries. From the outset, he explains that “one of the major themes of the book is the
Photographer and author Katherine Carver spent the past decade documenting the fate of 59 abandoned dogs. Inspired by her own rescue dog who had suffered from neglect and abuse, Carver photographed each of the abandoned dogs while they were staying at shelters or rescues. She returned one year after they were adopted, using striking black-and-white
Animals are often the main characters in children’s books, capturing younger readers’ attention and delivering life lessons in an entertaining and easily digestible format. Veto, The Governor’s Cat, by former Georgia governor Nathan Deal, is no exception; it touches on universal themes of friendship, loss, and life changes. The story centers on Veto, the cat who shared
Hugh Warwick, a British ecologist, has spent decades studying his favorite species, the hedgehog. In his fourth book, Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation, Warwick shifts his focus to examine the complex and controversial practice of culling invasive species to save native species in the United Kingdom. Warwick’s investigative approach incorporates diverse
Even an ardent equine enthusiast will likely come away with a new appreciation for the horse after reading Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History. Ambitious in scope, the book examines humanity’s close relationship with horses across the globe since the dawn of civilization. Author William T. Taylor, assistant professor and curator of archaeology at the