Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. In honor of the holiday, a group of publishing houses "Alpina" has prepared a selection of books dedicated to amazing living creatures.
Ecologist and zoologist Karl Safina writes about seabirds with such admiration and respect that you involuntarily feel warm feelings for the heroes of his works. Obsessed with the passion of a true scientist, Safina goes to observe the wandering albatross Amelia. A special sensor was attached to it in order to get to know the world of these birds more closely.
The author shares the segments he saw from the life of albatrosses: it turned out to be a story of struggle and hope, exceptional endurance and perseverance. Readers will pass, or rather, will float (fly by?) all the way together with the scientist and will see the world through Amelia's eyes, as well as get acquainted with other wildlife living in the ocean.
The book is illustrated with photos from the trip and maps of Amelia's flights — you can see what incredible distances these birds are able to overcome.
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The gap between the human and animal psyche is much smaller than it seems. Sometimes it's not a gap at all, but a small gap. Take, for example, killer whales, so far from humans in terms of evolution and lifestyle, but so close in intelligence and sociality.
Olga Filatova is a Doctor of Biological Sciences, a specialist in the field of acoustic communication of mammals and behavior of cetaceans. In the book "Cloudy, killer whales are possible," she explains how they make friends, build romantic relationships, take care of offspring, compete, joke — in a word, these mammals live. But the main topic that Filatova raises and explores is the illegal capture of killer whales in Russia.
The scientist introduces readers to the everyday life of biologists, talks about the relationship between humans and killer whales and shares ideas on what should be done to preserve these intelligent animals.
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Zoopsychologist Sasha Rausch has written a wonderful book in which she tells how to understand this independent animal and become a family for it. From it, you can find out, for example, what cats really need their luxurious mustaches for; how these animals manage to be so graceful and clumsy at the same time; what exactly means a short "purr" and an unusual sound similar to a chirping "ek‑ek‑ek".
Rausch also shares quite everyday recommendations for himself: where it is better to install a bowl with water and food, how to equip a toilet and in which place to pet an animal so that it is definitely pleasant for him. The book contains more than 150 different illustrations with cats, which were made by the talented artist Polina Polevaya.
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Can animals say hello and say goodbye? It is not difficult to guess about the first one — it is enough to imagine how the dog jumps around the owner when he crosses the threshold of the house. But what about the farewell? In the book "Are we Smart Enough to judge the mind of animals?" primatologist Frans De Waal answers this and other curious questions about animals.
The scientist tells whether animals are able to make plans for the future, whether they have imagination and a penchant for creativity, whether they are able to be friends and empathize. Frans De Waal writes without abstruse terminology and expounds scientific theories in understandable language: animals become closer and even more interesting.
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Geneticists Dmitry Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut are pioneers of the experimental study of evolution. For 60 years, which by the standards of evolution are considered seconds, they managed to make aggressive black and brown foxes as loyal and affectionate pets as dogs. How scientists did it is described on the pages of the book.
Dmitry and Lyudmila share their observations in colors: how foxes happily frolic, how they raise cubs, how they arrange social games and manipulate each other. Readers will learn about the Siberian fur farm, where people spent literally 24 hours a day with foxes, so that the latter got used to them, learned new patterns of behavior and passed on their knowledge to the next generation. "Tame the Fox" is a real anthem of friendship that has been connecting people and pets for thousands of years.
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Insects are small but extremely important creatures. If a certain bug had not appeared on Earth, everything would have been different in the world. For example, without lice, a person would remain hairy, like a chimpanzee, if there were no tsetse flies, zebra stripes would disappear… Don't just ask if they are white or black.
Biologist Alexander Khramov in his book tells about more exciting facts. He introduces readers to real monstrous arthropods that inspire Hollywood screenwriters to create entomological horrors, with black‑and-orange butterflies in which the souls of the dead are resettled in Mexico, as well as beetles participating in spiritualistic seances.
The author shares a lot of fascinating stories and predicts how insects will affect the future of the planet: maybe soon we will enjoy a juicy steak not from beef, but from crickets.
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Naturalist Cy Montgomery dedicated the book to her main teachers — animals she met all over the world: from the rainforest of Papua New Guinea to the Mongolian Altai. The author describes how communication with different creatures enriched her soul: the book will focus on a dog, a pig, three huge flightless birds, a pair of tree kangaroos, a spider, an ermine and an octopus. This kind and fascinating book was illustrated by artist Rebecca Green.
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This book was written by Zinaida the dog in collaboration with Nadia Pigareva, an expert on humane education of tailed dogs. The narration is conducted from the dog's muzzle, so it turned out to be interesting, authentic and very funny. Readers will learn how four-legged friends are arranged, how to communicate with them correctly and behave.
The book will be useful both for those who have already got a pet and want to raise it, and for those who are just thinking about finding a new friend.
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The story of how scientists decided to bring wolves to Yellowstone National Park. In the XX century, these animals were exterminated, therefore, global violations occurred in the reserve: due to the lack of predators, the population of wapiti deer grew, which began to eat the food base of most rodents, the number of insects and, consequently, birds decreased.
So, without one link in the food chain, a serious imbalance occurred, and in order to bring everything to harmony, scientists returned the wolves to the park. How they managed it, how the wolves got used to the new place, how they gradually put in order all the ecological equipment in the reserve — described in the book "Bring back the Wolves".
The book is beautifully illustrated and designed for readers from 6 years old. It contains a lot of amazing facts about wolves, as well as about other animals that live in Yellowstone Park: deer, bears, bison, and even feathered predators like hawks and owls.
Buy a bookAmazing creatures live on our planet. In order for them to continue to please us further, it is important to protect the vulnerable Land. The page of the project "Life of a wonderful Planet" contains many books that will help you understand how to protect and preserve the environment and its inhabitants.
