ANIMALS AT BAY: Rare and rescued American Wildlife

by Adrien Stoutenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 1968

In A Vanishing Thunder, the author mourned the diminished populations of six bird species; here she discusses, as sympathetically but not as sentimentally, the decline of the sea tter, grizzly, bison, wolf, big-horn sheep, blue whale and related groups. Again, there is some fictionalization in setting up time and place, with historical figures stealthily coming over hilltops; also, man (i.e. white man, because the Indians never slaughtered) invariably appears as the enemy, whether shooting for fun (sometimes from airplanes) or profit (Bering's continent, etc.); however, there is no phony dialogue. Several of the animals have legendary representatives; Israel Putnam had a long bout with a Connecticut wolf, which shows their mutual determination and courage (and in which the farmer sends his Negro slave into the wolf-hiding hole after his dog refuses to descend). Conservation books, however, are not a dwindling species; this treats specific cases in detail and always indicates general practices and the interdependence of living things.

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION