LET THEM LIVE: A Worldwide Survey of Animals Threatened with Extinction

by Kai Curry-Lindahl ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 16, 1972

No one will contest Curry-Lindahl's observation that once man ceased to fear nature, ""he began to plunder it as if it were inexhaustible."" Nor in all probability will anyone question this UNESCO conservation expert's testimony that since the advent of the Industrial Revolution -- the point of man's active flaunting of the natural selection process -- well over 300 animal species have been totally eliminated and three times that many are currently under the gun -- ""397 mammals, 385 birds, ninety-five fish."" If nothing else, Curry-Lindahl is precise, and that is the worth of his latest book (earlier this year Morrow published his Conservation for Survival, a detailed if reductionist discussion which blamed human population growth for most of the world's ecological ills). In fact it might be wisest to treat Let Them Live as a reference book: an area-by-area, species-by-species handbook of vertebrates which either are or are in danger of becoming extinct -- from the white-winged seedeater (Poliospiza leucoptera) in Africa to the better known alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Florida. A status report, if you will, rather than an inquiry into the biogeographical ramification of species extinction. As such it has distinct value for naturalists engaged in ecological research, but very little for the general public.

Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION