num_pages: 342
description: A vibrant history of the modern conservation movementtold through the lives and ideas of the people who built it.In the late nineteenth century as humans came to realize that our rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving other animal species to extinction a movement to protect and conserve them was born. In Beloved Beasts acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the movements history: from early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to todays global effort to defend life on a larger scale.She describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson as well as lesser-known figures in conservation history; she reveals the origins of vital organizations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund; she explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros; and she confronts the darker side of conservation long shadowed by racism and colonialism.As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change escalate Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all speciesincluding our own.
language: English
title: Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company