A definitive account of the bright-eyed assassins of the British countryside.Stoats, weasels, martens and polecats belong to the mustelid family, along with badgers and otters, and feral American mink, which are a recent addition to the UK countryside, following escapes and releases from fur farms.This new volume in the New Naturalist Library focuses on the four ‘small mustelids’, all highly specialised predators, ubiquitous assassins to be marvelled at. Th...

A mammal ecologist's "ode to this familiar yet mysterious creature . . . by turns lyrical, salty, funny and scholarly" ( The New York Times Book Review).The fox. For thousands of years myth and folklore have celebrated its cunning intelligence. Today the red fox is the nature's most populous carnivore, its dancing orange tail a common sight in backyards. Yet who is this wild neighbor, truly? How do we negotiate this uneasy new chapter of an ancient relation...

Human activity has irreversibly changed the natural environment. But the news isn't all bad.It's accepted wisdom today that human beings have permanently damaged the natural world, causing extinction, deforestation, pollution, and of course climate change. But in Inheritors of the Earth, biologist Chris Thomas shows that this obscures a more hopeful truth -- we're also helping nature grow and change. Human cities and mass agriculture have created new place...

WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON GLOBAL CONSERVATIONWinner of the Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize‘splendid’ —Guardian‘visionary’ —New StatesmanRebirding takes the long view of Britain’s wildlife decline, from the early taming of our landscape and its long-lost elephants and rhinos, to fenland drainage, the removal of ...

This beautifully illustrated overview of the wildlife of the British Isles showcases the diversity of our plant and animal life.Wild Isles is a celebration of the wildlife found on a relatively modest collection of islands positioned at a latitude so northerly to be unattractive to many animals and plants. Despite these unpromising foundations, the islands of Britain and Ireland, together with more than 6,000 lesser islets that make up our archipelago, contain some of the most dive...

FINALIST IN THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2022/2023 – WRITTEN BY THE WAINWRIGHT-CONSERVATION-PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF REBIRDING.Transform your understanding of the natural world forever and discover the wild forces that once supported Britain's extraordinary natural riches, and could again.Our precious archipelago is ravaged by climate change, bereft of natural ecosystems and lies at the mercy of global warming, flooding, ...

Britain's lynx are missing, and they have been for more than a thousand years. Why have they gone? And might they come back?Britain was a very different place 15,000 years ago – home to lions, lynx, bears, wolves, bison and many more megafauna. But as its climate changed and human populations expanded, most of early Britain's largest mammals disappeared. Will advances in science and technology mean that we can one day bring these mammals back? And should we?

Australia’s native rodents are the most ecologically diverse family of Australian mammals. There are about 60 living species – all within the subfamily Murinae – representing around 25 per cent of all species of Australian mammals. They range in size from the very small delicate mouse to the highly specialised, arid-adapted hopping mouse, the large tree rat and the carnivorous water rat. Native Mice and Rats describes the evolution and ecology of this much-neglected group of animals. It detai...

A comprehensive handbook covering all aspects of the conservation of Barn Owls. Written by the Barn Owl Trust, this book includes in-depth information on Barn Owl survey techniques, relevant ecology, Barn Owls and the law, mortality, habitat management, use of nest boxes and barn Owl rehabilitation. Essential reading for ecologists, planners, land managers and ornithologists.

The Kruger National Park is one of the world’s leading stewards of biological diversity. Its management requires ongoing monitoring and re-evaulation to ensure that species survive. Shaping Kruger provides fascinating insight into the lives, habits and behaviour of the larger animals that significantly affect the workings of the park. It expertly synthesizes decades of ground-breaking research into the animals and their environment, examining along the way individual species; predator-prey...

Dragonflies are among the most ancient of living creatures – few insect groups fascinate as much or are more immediately recognisable.In this seminal new work, Philip Corbet and Stephen Brooks examine the behaviour, ecology and distribution of dragonflies in Britain and Ireland, placing emphasis on the insects' habitats and also on measures needed to conserve them.Published in 1960 – with Philip Corbet as contributing author – volume 41 of the New Naturalist series provided...

An exploration of the relationship between humans and the charismatic and elusive hare.To the people of rural Britain, hares are deeply beloved, perhaps above all other animals. They thrive in abundance in imagery but can be maddeningly elusive in reality. In our stories – ancient and modern – they are magical, uncanny and illogical beings which commune with the moon, vanish at will, and lose their minds when spring arrives. Yet despite the breadth and depth of its...