Wolves: Behavior, ecology, and conservation edited by L. David Mech and Luigi Boitani, University of Chicago Press, 拢34.50/$49, ISBN 0226516962 Reviewed by Stephen Harris
THE change in attitudes to wolves has been remarkable, first in the US and later elsewhere. Obsessive control operations in the US in the early 1900s led to the near extermination of the wolf in most of the country. Most early wolf books focused on the problems posed by the animals and how to kill them. By the 1960s, however, biologists were undertaking ground-breaking studies into the ecology and behaviour of wolves. One study, on Isle Royale in Michigan, continues to this day, and with more than half a century of uninterrupted data is one of the longest continuous wildlife studies in the world.
L. David Mech summarised these early studies in 1970 in his seminal monograph The Wolf: The ecology and behavior of an endangered species. Yet even as that book was published, the poisons strychnine and sodium fluoroacetate (1080) were being used to kill wolves throughout most of Canada. The stated aim of that policy was 鈥渃ontrol鈥�. Total eradication was still the goal in much of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Fortunately, Mech鈥檚 book had a significant impact on public perceptions. A vast wolf industry followed, so much so that Mech and Luigi Boitani can now claim that 鈥渕ore books may have been written about wolves than any other wildlife species鈥�. This is perhaps not too surprising: wolves have come to epitomise the problems of conserving large, elusive carnivores.
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This book is the first comprehensive review of wolf biology since Mech鈥檚 original work. It provides an excellent compilation of current knowledge, with contributions from all the main players in wolf research over the past few decades who are still alive. It is designed for a wide readership, and certainly the language and style will appeal to both scientists and lupophiles alike. However, I am no fan of the strange, and sometimes far from illuminating, anecdotes that introduce some chapters.
Despite having one American and one European editor, Wolves remains heavily biased towards American studies, even allowing for the greater number of wolf studies in North America. The biggest disappointment is the chapter on reintroductions. Why is this about the red wolf, hardly a glowing example, when there have been highly successful grey wolf reintroductions?
But gripes are few: this is an excellent summary of current knowledge and will remain the standard reference work for a long time to come. And by today鈥檚 standards, it鈥檚 refreshingly cheap.