Biology and conservation of wild felids /

This companion to Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids edited by D. Macdonald and C. Sillero-Zubiri (2004) matches its format and is probably even more comprehensive and authoritative than its predecessor. Macdonald and Loveridge (both, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford Univ., UK), have assembled writing teams of felid specialists (128 in total) that have produced two kinds of chapters in two parts: "Reviews," covering a broad theme in felid biology, and "Case Studies," covering a particular species. They bookend these chapters with an introductory overview of wild felids and a concluding chapter on the conservation challenges they face. The reviews (eight chapters) range from evolution and phylogeny, form and function, and social organization, to human-felid conflict and conservation, research techniques, and wild felid diseases. Nineteen case studies cover African lions (disease transmission, reserve-edge conservation), tigers (population and conservation dynamics in the Himalayan front and Siberia), leopard trophy hunting (South Africa), cheetahs (Namibia, Tanzania), jaguars (Brazil, Belize), snow leopards, pumas (North and South America), Scottish wildcats, lynx (Switzerland, Iberia, Canada), African wildcats, ocelots, and the Andean cat. Anybody with an interest in wild felids will need this book in their library. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic and professional collections, all levels. J. E. Grinnell Gustavus Adolphus College