The Condor's Shadow

by WILCOVE, DAVID S.

• ISBN13: 9780385498814
• ISBN10: 0385498810
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-05-09
• Publisher: Anchor

Summary

With gripping narrative power,The Condor's Shadowtraces the ways in which human greed and ignorance have wreaked havoc on our ecological landscape. The heir apparent to Peter Matthiessen's 1959 classicWildlife in America,The Condor's Shadowis a brilliant and compulsively readable study of the state of North American wildlife and what is being done to reverse the damage humans have caused. With equal respect for the smallest feather-mite and the fiercest grizzly, the frailest flower and the stateliest redwood, David S. Wilcove illustrates--in jargon-free, often witty prose--nature's delicate system of checks and balances, examining the factors that determine a species' vulnerability and the consequences of losing even the tiniest part of any ecosystem. An examination of both the heart-wrenching failures and stunning successes of our conservation efforts,The Condor's Shadowchronicles the destruction and resilience of our American wilderness and offers an insightful, eloquent overview that will appeal to avid conservationists and recreational nature-lovers alike.

Author Biography

DAVID S. WILCOVE is Senior Ecologist at the Environmental Defense Fund and one of the nation's foremost experts on endangered species. Among other publications, he has written for <b>Audubon</b> and <b>Nature Conservancy</b>. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs	xi
Foreword	xiii
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction The Arrival	1	(14)
The forest Primeval	15	(34)
A Wilderness to the West	49	(28)
A Sea of Grass	77	(28)
Troubled Waters	105	(34)
The Coastlines of a Continent	139	(32)
A Bounty at the Border	171	(32)
Too Gentle for This World?	203	(26)
The Condor's Shadow	229	(14)
Notes	243	(46)
Literature Cited	289	(30)
Index	319