A gripping story of man pitted against nature’s most fearsome and efficient predator. Outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East a man-eating tiger is on the prowl. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s murdering them, almost as if it has a vendetta. A team of trackers is dispatched to hunt down the tiger before it strikes again. They know the creature is cunning, injured, and starving, making it even more dangerous. As John Vaillant re-creates these extraordinary events, he gives us an unforgettable and masterful work of narrative nonfiction that combines a riveting portrait of a stark and mysterious region of the world and its people, with the natural history of nature’s most deadly predator.

A book of travel and natural history, recounting a journey into the Himalayan massif in search of the snow leopard.

This is Linda Tucker’s firsthand account of her journey into the mysteries of the most sacred animal on the African continent: the legendary White Lion. This book reveals the knowledge and ceremonies of Old Africa and the overwhelming love that has driven her every action to save these magnificent beasts, against formidable odds. . . . After being rescued from a life-threatening encounter with lions in the Timbavati game region by a medicine woman known as the “Lion Queen,” Linda embarked on a journey into the mysteries of the White Lion. It is a mystical journey into the knowledge and ceremonies of Old Africa, in which humans and lions are able to cross the species barrier—in accordance with the most guarded secrets of Ancient Egypt and humankind’s greatest riddle, the sphinx. Scientists in our day have established that humankind’s most significant evolutionary leap occurred as a result of our ancestors’ interaction with great cats. The White Lion is a genetic rarity of Panthera leo, and occurred in just one region on earth: Timbavati. Today White Lions form the center of the notorious “canned” trophy hunting industry—hand-reared captive lions, shot in enclosures for gross sums of money. By contrast, shamans believe that killing a “lion sun god” is the ultimate sacrilege. How the human species treats such precious symbols of God in nature may determine how nature treats the human species.        Whether we view them as prophetic “Lions of God” or simply as rare genetic mutations, the story of the White Lions is a true legend unfolding in our own extraordinary times.

The Cat in Art is both full of surprises and hauntingly familiar, as cats play and pounce and sleep and purr their way through 170 great art masterpieces from the ancient world to the present. What cats represent to us in life, they bring to art: elegance and grace; domestic tranquility; symbols of sensuality and mischievousness. Here are paintings by Van Eyck, Raphael, Leonardo, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Chardin, Gainsborough, Manet, Renoir, Bonnard, Gauguin, Matisse, Balthus, Picasso, Warhol, and many others. Sometimes the cats are the stars of the work, and sometimes they are working their magic from the corners of rooms—in which case both the whole work and a detail showing the cat are illustrated. Stefano Zuffi’s charming text tells the reader what it all means, from the feline goddesses of the ancients, to the devilish cats of the Middle Ages, to the indispensable companions of our own time.

Tony Fitzjohn, part missionary, part madman, has been called “one of the world’s most endangered creatures.” An internationally renowned field expert on African wildlife, he is best known for the eighteen years he spent helping Born Free’s George Adamson return more than forty leopards and lions—including the celebrated Christian—to the wild in central Kenya.         Born Wild is the memoir of Fitzjohn’s extraordinary life. It shows how a man driven by an impossibly restless spirit can do almost anything, from being a bouncer in a brothel, to surviving a vicious lion attack, to fighting with the Tanzanian government, to being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen.         A notorious hell-raiser given to scrapes with bandits, evil policemen, and wicked politicians, who has been shot at by poachers and chewed up by lions, Fitzjohn is also a wonderful raconteur. Shenanigans aside, he belongs to that rare species of humans who have sought refuge and meaning in a life truly dedicated to the restoration of the animal kingdom. Many times Tony Fitzjohn has put his life on the line for the cause in which he believes. Born Wild is the story of that passion.

Carnivores are among the most spectacular creatures in the natural world, and also the most feared. Carnivores of the World is the first comprehensive field guide to all 245 terrestrial species of true carnivores, from the majestic polar bear and predatory wild cats to the tiny least weasel. This user-friendly illustrated guide features 86 color plates by acclaimed wildlife artist Priscilla Barrett that depict every species and numerous subspecies, as well as about 400 line drawings of skulls and footprints. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, distribution and habitat, feeding ecology, behavior, social patterns, reproduction and demography, status, threats, lifespan, and mortality. Carnivores of the World includes an introduction that provides a concise overview of taxonomy, conservation, and the distinct families within the order Carnivora.Covers all 245 terrestrial species of true carnivores Includes 86 color plates by acclaimed wildlife artist Priscilla Barrett Features detailed species accounts and hundreds of line drawings The first field guide of its kind

Describes the physical characteristics, habits, and natural environment of various species of big cats.

Big Cat Diary is a television phenomenon. From its inception in 1996 it grew steadily in popularity, until it attracted audiences of up to seven million. In autumn 2008, in the BBC Natural History Unit’s most ambitious outside broadcast ever, it went live for the first time and recorded two million visitors to its website in the course of transmission.