Bear Rescue: Changing the Future for Endangered Wildlife (Firefly Animal Rescue) - Softcover

Thomas, Keltie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1552979210 ISBN 13: 9781552979211

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2006

Synopsis

"The sight of a bear standing on its hind legs is simply awesome. It turns the cute and cuddly image of the teddy bear on its head, and instead evokes fear and wonder."
- from the introduction

Bears are respected and admired, yet also feared. These mighty animals have virtually no enemies except for humans. Over the last 150 years, as civilization has expanded into their natural environments, bears are being displaced. Because of habitat loss, hunting for sport, and the black market trade in body parts for medicinal use, all species except brown and American black bears are endangered or vulnerable.

Bear Rescue profiles the major projects and people around the world who are active in the conservation efforts to help these animals:

• Armando Castellanos is the founder of the Spectacled Bear Project, which works to save the habitat of the endangered spectacled bears of South America
• Yoganand Kandasamy radio-collars sloth bears in India and follows them night and day through the forest to study their behavior
• Jill Robinson of China Bear Rescue rescues and rehabilitates Asiatic black bears from bear bile farms in China
• Ian Stirling is a research scientist studying the effects of global warming and toxins on the polar bear population
• A team from Seattle Woodland Park Zoo is working on successfully breeding in captivity the endangered sun bear.

Illustrated with 50 color photographs, Bear Rescue covers the people, the issues and the challenges involved in preserving a future for endangered wildlife.

About the Firefly Animal Rescue series:

The Firefly Animal Rescue identifies endangered and threatened species and what is being done to protect them. Combining lively, accessible text and stunning color photographs, each book provides a detailed overview of the species, describing its characteristics, behavior, habits, physiology and more.

"These attractive books are a call to action... fascinating readable accounts."
- School Library Journal

"Succinct introductions to the science and practice of wildlife conservation... written in accessible, lively language."
- Booklist

About this title

About the Author

Keltie Thomas, a former editor of OWL magazine, is the author many books for children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Bear Facts

The sight of a bear standing on its hind legs is simply awesome. It turns the cute and cuddly image of the teddy bear on its head, and instead evokes fear and wonder. It reminds us a little of ourselves, standing on our own two feet. But above all, it embodies the untamed wilderness.

Bears amble through the wild as if it were a playground, safe from virtually all predators except humans. They pad through brush, nibble on tender young plants, swim in lakes and streams, and catch fish with their paws.

These mighty animals evolved from a long-extinct meat-eating mammal the size of a dog. This creature bounded through European forests 20 million years ago, and its descendants roamed far and wide around the world.

Today, the world's bears no longer rule the wild like they once did. Over the last 150 years or so, people have been moving into bear country, taking over vast chunks of wilderness, and forcing bears out. As people build houses, farms and cities, they destroy bear habitat. People also hunt bears for sport, and kill them for their body parts. The result? Populations of bears are seriously shrinking. Scientists now consider all species except brown bears and American black bears endangered or vulnerable.

But nobody's willing to count bears out just yet. Scientists, park rangers, governments, conservationists, and ordinary people around the world are working to save bears. What's more, bears have a nose for survival. What other creature can scare wolves into abandoning their kills so it can help themselves to their dinner?

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552979210
• ISBN 13: 9781552979211
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64