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Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators | 
 enlarge | Author: William Stolzenburg
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $16.49
You Save: $8.50 (34%)
New (20) Used (4) from $16.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 30339
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 1596912995
Dewey Decimal Number: 577.16
EAN: 9781596912991
Publication Date: July 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A provocative look at how the disappearance of the world’s great predators has upset the delicate balance of the environment, and what their disappearance portends for the future, by an acclaimed science journalist.
It wasn’t so long ago that wolves and great cats, monstrous fish and flying raptors ruled the peak of nature’s food pyramid. Not so anymore. All but exterminated, these predators of the not-too-distant past have been reduced to minor players of the modern era. And what of it? Wildlife journalist William Stolzenburg follows in the wake of nature’s topmost carnivores, and finds chaos in their absence. From the brazen mobs of deer and marauding raccoons of backyard America to streamsides of Yellowstone National Park crushed by massive herds of elk; from urchin-scoured reefs in the North Pacific to ant-devoured islands in Venezuela, Stolzenburg leads a startling tour through bizarre, impoverished landscapes of pest and plague. For anyone who has seldom given thought to the meat-eating beasts so recently missing from the web of life, here is a world of reason to think again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Megapredators November 16, 2008
For fans of science writing, not to mention lovers of nature and animals, this is a very well-written and occasionally heartbreaking look at the developing science of predation. Stolzenburg presents important breakthroughs and controversies surrounding this relatively new discipline, with especially insightful explorations of whether the human world would truly benefit from a natural environment possessing a full slate of superpredators. Throughout history, large predators have been willfully exterminated, either out of spite or through scientific misunderstanding of their impacts on ecosystems. But modern scientists are finding that the anthropocentric view of villainous predators conflicts with their crucial roles in their ecosystems, as the big carnivores regulate the populations and behaviors of their prey species. Remove the predators and ecological chaos can ensue, with one very clear example being the pampered deer in my home state of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile the reintroduction of predators, such as the noteworthy story of the wolves of Yellowstone, can lead to immediate improvements in the health and biodiversity of ecosystems that were damaged by the superpredators' previous removal or disappearance.
Stolzenburg covers all sides of the issue, from debates among pioneering scientists to the policy disputes brought by unscientific citizens and politicians, built around engaging stories of the crucial ecosystem services performed by unfairly maligned predators ranging from grizzly bears and wolves to killer whales and even otters and starfish. Here Stolzenburg offers great insight into recent developments in not just the science of predation, but public attitudes toward the so-called monsters of the animal kingdom. The world needs big predators, and humans would be wise to appreciate all the ways that these predators accentuate our natural world. [~doomsdayer520~]
FANTASTIC October 11, 2008
From a layperson point of view this book is a great read detailing with clarity and scientific precision the role of predators in our ecosystem. The book skillfully delivers the historic facts regarding the evolution of the field of ecology as well as how and why great predators (wolves, bears, eagles among others) have been replaced by other secondary predators (coyotes, house cats, hyenas) and the damage our ecosystems incur because of it. That may sound pretty textbook boring, but Stolzenburg tells this story as a grand tale, with the lives of the scientists interwoven with the animals they study. It is a real eye opener and changed the way I look at animals we intrisically fear. For any educated person who likes non fiction this is a quick read which will cause you to question everything you thought you knew about evolution and biological science. Bravo Mr. Stolzenburg for writing about science in a way that is as at once entertaining and enlightening. Not sincs John McPhee have I read a science book of such mastery!
Excellent book September 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent summary of many field studies that prove the importance of apex predators. It's a quick and compelling read, and expect it may become required reading for all interested in environmental issues. The book paints a rather bleak picture of the situation we face, and now I notice it's conclusions everywhere. He talks at length about the DC area, where I live, which adds to my own personal awareness of the issue. I'd recommend it to anyone: it's written for laypeople but can be useful for scientists as well.
Predatory Instincts September 15, 2008
The authors' style really resonated with me. He describes large earth-shattering revelations with such eloquence. Starting with the thesis that the death/extinction of predators and "super"predators are to blame for many ecological/environmental, he delves into numerous case studies and ongoing research of many leading biologists. The first chapters discussion of the kelp forests along the Pacific rim was particularly interesting, and made a real case for the rest of the book: ecosystems MUST be looked at from the top-down, rather than the reverse. The scientists that Stolzenburg profiles methodically and systematically show that the top predators directly relate to such things as river ecology, plant seed distribution, and seemingly unrelated things like Lyme disease.
While so many points in this book stood out, I particularly enjoyed the one time humans got it right: the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park in Wyoming in the mid-1990s. It was a success story, and I presume that it remains so this day, over ten years later.
Simply put, this book was amazingly written and infinitely informative. If you care about nature, biodiversity, and the future of our planet and the creatures living on it, reading this book will help you gain insight on how setting life back into the natural balance will remedy many (unfortunately not all) of the ills we face.
An Important Book With Broad Implications August 31, 2008
Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, is a new and important contribution to conservation and ecology by William Stolzenburg (Bloomsbury, 2008)
The author looks at cases, both experimental and real-life, where the top predators have been wiped out, and looks at what happens next. It turns out that a lot of things happen, none of them good. One result is an explosion of "mesopredators" (the second-tier carnivores, ranging from coyotes to raccoons to feral domestic cats) which wreak havoc on ecosystems without the larger predators to compete with (and sometimes eat) them. Plants and prey animals have evolved for one type of ecosystem and are often helpless in an altered one. While his examples come from all over the world, it's the North American ones that will cause the most consternation to most readers. Who foresaw that killing the eastern wolves and cougars would result in a gigantic deep population explosion (far beyond the ability of hunters to keep up) that wrecked the habitats of many smaller creatures? Who knew that bringing in a new apex predator (whalers) and wiping out the northern Pacific great whales started a cascade that drove the former apex predator (killer whales) to decimate seal and sea otter populations in many areas, resulting in kelp forests being replaced by barren seafloor overrun with the urchins the otters used to keep down? There are many such examples, some almost despair-inducing. One of Stolzenburg's important points is that, ecologically, human hunters don't replace the predators: they hunt in specific seasons rather than all year round and pick off the largest animals instead of the weakest.
This book should be must reading for anyone involved in wildlife management or conservation biology including everyone in the FWS, EPA, or state wildlife agencies.
Matt Bille, author, Shadows of Existence: Discoveries and Speculations in Zoology
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