It was 1978, and there had been no resident timber wolves in Wisconsin for twenty years. Still, packs were active in neighboring Minnesota, and there was the occasional rumor from Wisconsin's northwestern counties of wolf sign or sightings. Had wolves returned on their own to Wisconsin? Richard Thiel, then a college student with a passion for wolves, was determined to find out. Thus begins Keepers of the Wolves, Thiel's tale of his ten years at the center of efforts to track and protect the recovery of wolves in Northern Wisconsin. From his early efforts as a student enthusiast to his departure in 1989 from the post of wolf biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, Thiel conveys the wonder, frustrations, humor, and everyday hard work of field biologists, as well as the politics and public relations pitfalls that so often accompany their profession. We share in the excitement as Thiel and his colleagues find wolf tracks in the snow, howl in the forest night and are answered back, learn to safely trap wolves to attach radio collars, and track the packs' ranges by air from a cramped Piper Cub. We follow the stories of individual wolves and their packs as pups are born and die, wolves are shot by accident and by intent, ravages of canine parvovirus and hard winters take their toll, and young adults move on to new ranges. Believing he had left his beloved wolves behind, Thiel takes a new job as an environmental educator in central Wisconsin, but soon wolves follow. By 1999, there were an estimated 200 timber wolves in 54 packs in Wisconsin. This is a sequel to Dick Thiel's 1994 book, The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin: The Death and Life of a Majestic Predator. That book traced the wolf's history in Wisconsin, its near extinction, and the initial efforts to reestablish it in our state. Thiel's new book looks at how successful that program has been.

A high-stakes middle grade historical adventure through Yosemite National Park by the New York Times-bestselling author of Masterpiece. Twelve-year-old Lizzie Durango and her dad have always had a zoo to call their home. Lizzie spends her days watching the animals and taking note of their various behaviors. Though the zoo makes for a unique home, it's a hard place for Lizzie to make lasting friends. But all this changes one afternoon when she finds Tyler Briggs, a runaway who has secretly made the zoo his makeshift home. The two become friends and, just as quickly, stumble into a covert investigation involving the zoo wolves who are suddenly dying. Little do they know, this mystery will draw them into a high-stakes historical adventure involving the legend of John Muir as they try to navigate safely while lost in Yosemite National Park. A Christy Ottaviano Book

Perfect for fans of His Dark Materials! Against all odds, cubs Stellan, Jytte, Third, and Froya have found the key hidden inside the legendary Den of Forever Frost. Now, they have everything they need to destroy the dangerous ice clock. Everything . . . except an army. The power-hungry Grand Patek will stop at nothing to protect the clock, the source of his authority. And so, it's up to the cubs to convince the animals of Ga'Hoole to join the fight-a journey that'll take them from the fabled owl parliament to the rugged territory of the wolves of the beyond. But the owls and the wolves have secrets of their own -- secrets that threaten to fracture the fragile alliance. Do Stellan and Jytte have what it takes to become the leaders of the resistance? Or will the bears be left on their own to battle the greatest enemy Ga'Hoole has ever known?

In early 1958, in the far northern town of Cornucopia, Wisconsin's "last" timber wolf was accidentally run over by an automobile. The "humane" intention to end the animal's suffering produced a grisly aftermath: the wolf survived the impact of the car, was bludgeoned with a tire iron twice but survived, and finally had its throat slit with a restaurant knife. This horrifying scene is certainly an apt (if appalling) symbol of the timber wolf's early fate in Wisconsin. Feared, detested, hunted down for state-authorized bounties, the animal was systematically exterminated as an enemy of man and progress. Yet this bleak chapter in the history of conservation has a happier ending. Seventeen years later, in 1975, the timber wolf had officially reestablished itself and, as a protected species, is now flourishing under the care of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources. Few can be more caring than the author, a DNR educator in wildlife management. As an inquisitive teenager, Richard Thiel began his pursuit of the Wisconsin timber wolf's story in the mid-1960s and has been at it ever since. The result is this arresting, intensely readable book, a story of fear, mistrust, and misunderstanding that ends, thankfully, as one of hope and appreciation.

“I had been away from the fall of moonlight and the glow of the stars so long I forgot how real I felt beneath their quiet contemplation.” Victus, a wolf forced to change to the form of a man in the moonlight, lost everything the night he was captured. Caged and beaten, he quickly learned the darkest depths of the human soul. But when blue eyes and a soft smile threatened to steal his heart along with freeing him, he was torn between two worlds. Victus has to decide if he can trust his fierce instincts to protect the girl, or if he should run away with the wolf pack whose loyalty kept him alive. When a terror appears that threatens to destroy them all, Victus’ decision may be the only thing that can protect those he cares about. A true love story, Keeper of the Wolves takes love and sacrifice to a new level. Victus faces the ultimate truth: in finding love, one must truly be prepared to put everything on the line in order not to lose it again.

When Mother Bear and her two cubs leave the den for the first time they practice behaviors including climbing, searching, swimming, digging, and finally sleeping.