An inside look at a renowned marine biologist’s quest to save an abandoned, endangered seal pup Only eleven hundred Hawaiian monk seals survive in the wild. Without intervention, they face certain extinction within fifty years. When a two-day-old Hawaiian monk seal pup, later named Kauai Pup 2, or KP2, is attacked and abandoned by his mother on a beach, he is rushed off on a journey that will take him across the ocean to the California marine lab of eminent wildlife biologist Dr. Terrie M. Williams. As Williams works with the boisterous KP2 to save his species, she forms a lasting bond with him that illustrates the importance of the survival of all earth’s creatures and the health of the world’s oceans.

A successful woman entrepreneur addresses the taboo of depression that pervades African-American culture, drawing on her own experiences of suffering and recovery while counseling readers from all walks of life on how to overcome cycles of denial and psychological pain. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Packing an off-kilter sense of humor and keen scientific minds, authors Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson take off with renowned artist Alexis Rockman on a postmodern safari. Their mission? Tracking down the elusive Tasmanian tiger. This mysterious, striped predator was once the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial. It had a pouch like a kangaroo and a jaw that opened impossibly wide to reveal terrifying choppers. Tragically, this rare and powerful animal was hunted into extinction in the early part of the twentieth century. Or was it? Journeying first to the Australian mainland and then south to the wild island of Tasmania, these young naturalists brave a series of bizarre misadventures and uproarious wildlife encounters in their obsessive search for the long-lost beast. From an ancient cave featuring an aboriginal painting of the tiger to a lab in Sydney where maverick scientists are trying to resurrect the animal through cloning, this intrepid trio comes face-to-face with blood-sucking land leeches and venomous bull ants, a misbehaving wallaby who invades their motel room, and a crew of flesh-eating, bone-crunching Tasmanian devils gorging on roadkill. They bond with trappers, bushwackers, and wildlife experts who refuse to abandon the tiger hunt, despite the paucity of evidence. Sifting through local myths, bar-room banter, and historical accounts, these environmental detectives sweep readers into a world where platypus’ swim, kangaroos roam, and a large predator with a pouch was–or perhaps still is–queen of the jungle. Filled with Alexis Rockman’s stunning drawings of flora and fauna–-made from soil, wombat scat, and the artist’s own blood–Carnivorous Nights is a hip and hilarious account of an unhinged safari, as well as a fascinating portrayal of a wildly unique part of the world.

Discusses scientific findings on the intelligence, personality, and rich lives of parrots that challenges flawed assumptions about nonprimates. Topics include animal welfare, what parrots are worth on the black market, and their uncanny ability to bond with humans.

A heartfelt, funny memoir about how a kitten rescue project changed one cynic’s life… Journalist Heather Green was finally putting down roots: in shiny, buzzing Manhattan. She loved her work and threw herself into sixty-hour weeks—once walking into a subway pole, getting a concussion, and still going to the office. Her new boyfriend Matt lived across the river in a New Jersey town that had none of the glamour of New York. She liked Matt—a lot—yet she wasn’t sure what to make of weekends in gritty, dilapidated Union City. But things changed the summer morning Heather discovered a beautiful stray cat and her three black-and-white kittens in Matt’s neighbor’s backyard. When she made eye contact with one of the kittens, she felt something she’d never felt before. She and Matt had to save the little animals. Because if they didn’t, who would? The crazy world of cat rescue soon drew Heather in. As she and Matt worked together to figure out how to trap, tame, and find homes for their foundlings, she began to question the life she had back in Manhattan. This is the story of how three furry beings taught one woman about love, community, and what truly matters in life.

A tour of evolution’s most inventive—and essential—creations: animal genitalia Forget opposable thumbs and canine teeth: the largest anatomical differences between humans and chimps are found below the belt. In Nature’s Nether Regions, ecologist and evolutionary biologist Menno Schilthuizen invites readers to discover the wondrous diversity of animalian reproductive organs. Schilthuizen packs this delightful read with astonishing scientific insights while maintaining an absorbing narrative style reminiscent of Mary Roach and Jerry Coyne. With illustrations throughout and vivid field anecdotes—among them laser surgery on a fruit fly’s privates and a snail orgy—Nature’s Nether Regions is a celebration of life in all shapes and sizes.

Are you among the millions of people whose only opportunity to observe wildlife comes after it has been run over and pressed into a patty by big rigs, then desiccated by the elements until even flies don't recognize it? This is the field guide for you! FLATTENED FAUNA fills an important gap in our natural history knowledge and fosters a heightened respect for the ecology of the paved environment.Reviews“Knutson. . . might just be to roadkill what Brett Favre is to football flinging.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel