DO NOT be misled by appearances. Not all so-called coffee-table books are
quite what they seem. Take, for example, Nikita Ovsyanikov鈥檚 Polar Bears:
Living with the White Bear (Swan Hill, 拢19.95, ISBN 1 85310 807 3).
Few animals are more photogenic than the polar bear, and Ovsyanikov鈥檚
photographs are superb.
But there is far more to this book than just pretty pictures, for the author
spent four seasons living among polar bears in the high Arctic, on Wrangel and
Herald Islands. Here he writes of his experiences, which include no fewer than
500 face-to-face encounters with one of the world鈥檚 most feared predators.
Not only does Ovsyanikov debunk the theory of the ferocious, killer polar
bear, but he also shows that it is a sociable, even playful, animal. His
intimate experiences with the bears make a gripping read, and an eloquent plea
for the polar bear鈥檚 conservation.
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Polar bears have been protected throughout their range since 1973, though
native people are still allowed to hunt them in Canada and Greenland. In The
Vanishing Arctic (Blandford, 拢20, ISBN 0 7137 2530 3), Bryan
Alexander gives an enthralling account of a polar bear hunt with the Inuit of
northwest Greenland, the most northerly indigenous people on Earth.
Ironically, his account of the hunt makes an equally valid plea for not only
the polar bear鈥檚 conservation, but the whole environment in which the bears, and
the Inuit, live. Like Polar Bears, this book is a fascinating read,
though it is worth buying for Bryan and Cherry Alexander鈥檚 photographs
alone.
Polar bears may be threatened, but their plight is not as bad as that of the
tiger. In A Tiger鈥檚 Tale (Fountain Press, 拢24.95, ISBN 0 86343
391 X) brothers Anup and Manoj Shah tell the sad story of the Indian tiger鈥檚
struggle for survival. Their account is based on their experiences in
Ranthambore National Park, in Rajasthan, where they spent six years observing
and photographing the striped cats.
Tigers are arguably even more photogenic than polar bears, and the Shahs鈥�
photographs of the tigers and their habitat are tremendous. Alas, enjoyment of
the magnificent tiger portraits is tempered when you read the accompanying text,
and discover the sad fate of so many of the individual animals portrayed. The
story of Ranthambore is equally unhappy: the Shahs record the corruption and
mismanagement that has led to not only the decline of the tigers, but also the
national park itself. One can only hope that A Tiger鈥檚 Tale will alert
the Indian authorities to act before it is too late, but this seems
unlikely.
According to John MacKinnon in Wild China (New Holland,
拢29.99, ISBN 1 85368 236 5), four races of tiger still exist in China,
though the nation鈥檚 demand for tiger bone is one of the most important factors
in the cat鈥檚 decline. Wild China is the latest in the New Holland
series of country wildlife monographs, and its large format and abundance of
colour photographs slot it into the coffee-table category.
China, we are told, is 鈥渂iologically one of the three richest countries on
earth鈥�. In Wild China, John MacKinnon escorts his reader through each
region, from Changbaishan in the northeast to Hong Kong in the tropical south,
providing a concise, though rather simple, introduction to the country鈥檚
wildlife riches. The photographs are rather better then the text. Most are by
Nigel Hicks, but agency pictures of many of the rarer species are also used.
One of China鈥檚 most threatened animals is the Yangtze River dolphin, of which
fewer than a hundred survive. This species is illustrated in Wild China
, but not mentioned in Mark Carwardine鈥檚 The Book of Dolphins (Dragon鈥檚
World, 拢18.99, ISBN 1 85028 338 9), as this handsome volume concentrates
on the 27 species of oceanic dolphins. Almost every aspect of dolphin biology is
covered here, as well as much about our relationship with these fascinating
mammals. Carwardine writes with authority, and this book is sure to inspire many
more people to follow his example and go dolphin watching. His photographs are
good, too, and add much to the book鈥檚 appeal.