A lively, informative, and scientifically entertaining animal behavior study.
An appraisal of how and why certain animals play and how it correlates to biology on Earth.
Toomey, author of Weird Life and Stormchasers, turns his inquisitive eye to the curious ways animal species entertain themselves. He examines a series of animals from across the globe, each with unique playtime routines that are both fascinating and scientifically reflective of the natural habitats, cultures, and neurochemistry of the animal kingdom at large. Among the ethological research investigations Toomey explores is the anomaly of a young female octopus at the Seattle Aquarium thoroughly engaged with moving a small medicine bottle with her arms and water funnels; the “play fighting” of Kalahari meerkat pups; and the “chasing and wrestling” of Alaskan brown bears. The author postulates that the repetitive nature of these animals’ activities signals pleasurable distraction, a desire for excitement, and a playful form of social bonding, but ethologists can only hypothesize on this theory. Other scientists Toomey cites—e.g., Gordon Burghardt, author of The Genesis of Animal Play—have sought a general definition of “nonfunctional” voluntary animal play that could be applied to species that exhibited these behaviors but also to those animals incorrectly assumed to be incapable of play. Elsewhere, Toomey spotlights studies scrutinizing the “curious porcine behavior” in Edinburgh, Scotland’s experimental Pig Park; the oddity of belly-flopping juvenile male monkeys at a Calgary zoo; and the puzzling evolution of play fighting behaviors among rats, which, one neuroscientist observed, has little to do with fighting at all but rather enhances social competency, reduces stress, and defuses potential conflicts. The author includes sections on animal sleep cycles, which prove equally intriguing. Closing each chapter, Toomey intelligently analyzes how particular aspects of animal play behavior also characterize Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
A lively, informative, and scientifically entertaining animal behavior study.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781982154462
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.
The third volume in the Elephant Whisperer series.
In this follow-up to An Elephant in My Kitchen, Malby-Anthony continues her loving portrait of the Thula Thula wildlife reserve, which she co-founded in 1998 with her late husband, South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony, who published the first book in the series, The Elephant Whisperer, in 2009. Following his death in 2012, Malby-Anthony sought to honor his legacy by continuing his vision “to create a massive conservancy in Zululand, incorporating our land and other small farms and community land into one great big game park.” At the same time, the elephants gave her “a sense of purpose and direction.” In the Zulu language, thula means quiet, and though the author consistently seeks to provide that calm to her charges, peace and tranquility are not always easy to come by at Thula Thula. In this installment, Malby-Anthony discusses many of the challenges faced by her and her staff, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. These included an aggressive, 2-ton rhino named Thabo; the profound loss felt by all upon the death of their elephant matriarch, Frankie; difficulty obtaining permits and the related risk of having to relocate or cull some of their animals; the fear of looting and fire due to civil unrest in the region; and the ongoing and potentially deadly struggles with poachers. Throughout, the author also shares many warm, lighthearted moments, demonstrating the deep bond felt among the humans and animals at the reserve and the powerful effects of the kindness of strangers. “We are all working in unity for the greater good, for the betterment of Thula Thula and all our wildlife….We are humbled by the generosity and love, both from our guests and friends, and from strangers all around the world,” writes the author. “People’s open-hearted support kept us alive in the darkest times.”
A heartwarming and inspiring story for animal lovers.Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284259
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Are rivers alive? Macfarlane delivers a lucid, memorable argument in the affirmative.
The accomplished British nature writer turns to issues of environmental ethics in his latest exploration of the world.
In 1971, a law instructor asked a musing-out-loud question: Do trees have legal standing? His answer was widely mocked at the time, but it has gained in force: As Macfarlane chronicles here, Indigenous groups around the world are pressing “an idea that changes the world—the idea that a river is alive.” In the first major section of the book, Macfarlane travels to the Ecuadorian rainforest, where a river flows straight through a belt of gold and other mineral deposits that are, of course, much desired; his company on a long slog through the woods is a brilliant mycologist whose research projects have led not just to the discovery of a mushroom species that “would have first flourished on the supercontinent [of Gondwana] that formed over half a billion years ago,” but also to her proposing that fungi be considered a kingdom on a footing with flora and fauna. Other formidable activists figure in his next travels, to the great rivers of northern India, where, against the odds, some courts have lately been given to “shift Indian law away from anthropocentrism and towards something like ecological jurisprudence, underpinned by social justice.” The best part of the book, for those who enjoy outdoor thrills and spills, is Macfarlane’s third campaign, this one following a river in eastern Canada that, as has already happened to so many waterways there, is threatened to be impounded for hydroelectric power and other extractive uses. In delightfully eccentric company, and guided by the wisdom of an Indigenous woman who advises him to ask the river just one question, Macfarlane travels through territory so rugged that “even the trout have portage trails,” returning with hard-won wisdom about our evanescence and, one hopes, a river’s permanence and power to shape our lives for the better.
Are rivers alive? Macfarlane delivers a lucid, memorable argument in the affirmative.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780393242133
Page Count: 374
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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