Editorials
Children's Literature -
The difficulties and triumphs of working with the red wolves of the American Southeast, the black-footed ferrets of the American West, the golden lion tamarins of Brazil and the lemurs of Madagascar, are chronicled. While pointing out the problems, such as hunting and loss of wilderness which are driving some animals to extinction, the book strikes a positive note with the stories of successful reintroductions. Also emphasized is the fact that zoos, which once were nothing more than cages, now attempt to create natural environments for the creatures in their care. An interestingly written reference book documenting the reintroduction of four species to their native habitats.Kirkus Reviews
Patent (Biodiversity, 1996, etc.) describes some of the current conservation programs that preserve endangered animals by capturing wild specimens, breeding them in captivity, and reintroducing offspring to the wild.The American red wolf, black-footed ferret, Florida panther, the Madagascar lemur, and the Brazilian golden lion tamarin are some of the animals in captive breeding programs. Noting the difficulties and failures of such programs, Patent introduces—without going into detail—the concerns conservationists have raised about such programs: scarce resources directed away from environmental and habitat protection; captive and released animals having a high mortality rate; the ethical issues surrounding genetic tinkering; the selection of popular animals (large, cuddly mammals are chosen while thousands of other endangered species are ignored); and the destruction of existing competing species in a range to permit the reintroduction of a particular species. Patent acknowledges that habitat protection is cheaper and more effective, but concludes that captive breeding programs are a "hopeful tool for conservation of species around the world." Full-color photographs of animals in and out of captivity enhance the whole.