The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviours of our favourite animals with eye-catching, colour photography and informative expert text. Badgers are elusive wanderers of the night and few mammals are as mysterious. Their nocturnal lifestyle meansnot many of us have ever glimpsed their monochrome form as they sniff and bustle their way through woodland or across pasture – yet most of us live far closer to a Badger group than we might think. In Spotlight: Badgers James Lowen explores all aspects of their lives including their communal living, feeding habits, as well as the major threats to and conservation support for Badgers. These iconic omnivores are widely represented in folklore and have permeated our popular culture. Generations of children have been entranced by Badger in Kenneth Grahame's book Wind in the Willows, however these determined yet mostly peaceful animals have also been loathed and persecuted for centuries. Badger baiting is thankfully now illegal, but the legal badger cull introduced in 2011 in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset remains in place following the 2015 general election. With so much politics surrounding Badgers in the UK, it's not easy to get unbiassed information. In RSPB Spotlight: Badgers James Lowen keeps a neutral tone on the debate about Badger culling. He describes the history, from the first Badger found to be infected with bTB in 1972 and the subsequent gassing of setts from 1975 to 1982. He also outlines the RSPB's stance on the Badger cull. As one of the UK's largest landowners, the RSPB oppose Badger culling on their land, in favour of vaccination, cattle testing, bio-security and movement controls.

The new Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviours of our favourite animals with eye-catching, colour photography and informative expert text. Hero or villain? Few animals divide opinion like the Red Fox. This most successful of the world's wild canids has lived alongside people from time immemorial. Celebrated by some for its resourcefulness and lush pelt, reviled by others for plundering chicken runs and overturning bins, it has worked its way deep into Western. Behind the folklore and tabloid headlines, however, lies a remarkable natural history success story. In Spotlight: Foxes Mike Unwin explores how the Red Fox's versatility has allowed it to thrive across the northern hemisphere, from desert and mountain to farmland and urban jungle. This informative ebook covers all aspects of the Red Fox biology and lifestyle, including hunting and caching food, defending a territory, raising a litter and understanding the secrets of its complex vocalisations and body language. Finally, he examines the complex, often troubled relationship that the Fox has enjoyed and both endured with humankind, and suggests what the future might hold.

Fierce, menacing, and mysterious, badgers have fascinated humans as living animals, abstract symbols, or commercial resources for thousands of years—often to their detriment. With their reputation for determined self-defense, they have been brutalized by hunters and sportsmen, while their association with the mythic underworld has made them idealized symbols of earth-based wisdom and their burrowing habits have resulted in their widespread persecution as pests. In this highly illustrated book, Daniel Heath Justice provides the first global cultural history of the badger in over thirty years. From the iconic European badger and its North American kin to the African honey badger and Southeast Asian hog badger, Justice considers the badger’s evolution and widespread distribution alongside its current, often-imperiled status throughout the world. He travels from natural history and life in the wild to the folklore, legends, and spiritual beliefs that badgers continue to inspire, while also exploring their representation and exploitation in industry, religion, and the arts. Tracing the complex and contradictory ways in which this fascinating animal endures, Badger will appeal to anyone interested in a deeper understanding of these much-maligned creatures.

Spotlight: Hares is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photos, and features succinct and detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist. With their wild glare, swift turn of foot and secretive nature, hares are the rabbit's mysterious and untameable cousin. Always a thrilling wildlife spot, the hare has long been a symbol of Britain's sweeping, open countryside. Hares have also been associated with human culture and folklore for many centuries - their associations with spring can be traced back to the druids. Focussing on our two British species, the Brown Hare (found throughout the UK and widely distributed in Europe and Asia) and its more northerly relative the Mountain Hare (found in Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia and the Russian Federation), RSPB Spotlight Hares offers exciting and up-to-date information on these incredible lagomorphs, with chapters covering their biology, evolution, natural history, behaviour, including courtship rituals, and ecology. Information on some of the more charismatic species of hare found elsewhere in the world and on hares' other relatives, the rabbits and pikas, is also provided. The author discusses in detail Hares' interactions with humans, in agriculture, habitat management, shooting and hunting, as well as in more culinary matters, and reveals why this almost mythical animal of hill and meadow is so sensitive to the changes we make to age-old farming landscapes. The presence and significance of hares in our culture is also discussed, including the Easter hare, Lewis Carroll's mad March hare, and hares as shape-changers. Nancy Jennings also offers useful tips on where and how to see hares for yourself in the wild.

Glutton, demon of destruction, symbol of slaughter, mightiest of wilderness villains… The wolverine comes marked with a reputation based on myth and fancy. Yet this enigmatic animal is more complex than the legends that surround it. With a shrinking wilderness and global warming, the future of the wolverine is uncertain. The Wolverine Way reveals the natural history of this species and the forces that threaten its future, engagingly told by Douglas Chadwick, who volunteered with the Glacier Wolverine Project. This five-year study in Glacier National Park – which involved dealing with blizzards, grizzlies, sheer mountain walls, and other daily challenges to survival – uncovered key missing information about the wolverine’s habitat, social structure and reproduction habits. Wolverines, according to Chadwick, are the land equivalent of polar bears in regard to the impacts of global warming. The plight of wolverines adds to the call for wildlife corridors that connect existing habitat that is proposed by the Freedom to Roam coalition.

“The charisma of these huge, Amazonian ‘river people’ burns through even the most factual descriptions, emphasized by an abundance of photographs.” —BBC Wildlife The aptly named giant otter is exceptionally well adapted to life in rivers, lakes and wetlands in tropical South America. Known in Spanish as lobo del rio or ‘river wolf,’ it can be as long as a human is tall and is the most social of the world’s thirteen otter species. Each individual is identifiable from birth by its pale throat pattern, as unique as your fingerprint. Giant otters are top carnivores of the Amazon rainforest and have little to fear . . . except man. There are many reasons why scientists and tourists alike are fascinated by this charismatic species. Spend a day in the life of a close-knit giant otter family and you’ll realize why. Learn about their diet and hunting techniques, marking and denning behavior, and breeding and cub-rearing strategies, including shared care of the youngest members. Become familiar with the complex life histories of individual otters over their 15-year lifespans. And accompany a young disperser during the trials and tribulations of a year spent looking for a mate and a home of its own. “The descriptions of the otters, their habits and their homes along with tons of jaw dropping photographs, made me feel (almost) like I was there myself. Treat yourself to a book that will transport you to a place like nowhere else on earth, where you explore the wilds of the Amazon from your own garden.” —Cayocosta 72 “An intimate, educational and a dedicated love letter to the Giant Otter.” —Queen of Geekdom

The Badger Book takes its place as part of Graffeg's compact, accessible Nature Book series, exploring our relationship with some of Britain's best-loved wild creatures.This addition introduces the wonderfully mysterious and enigmatic Meles meles to the newly curious with fresh information in store for those with a long-standing interest. An inhabitant of these lands for thousands of years, badgers have been both revered and reviled, cherished and tormented, beloved and brutalised - The Badger Book takes a closer look at Britain's largest carnivorous mammal.Alongside magical photography, we examine the science - and politics - around bTB and the controversial badger cull as well as introducing a passionate group of ordinary people dedicated to rescuing them, followed by a meander through the myth, legend, art and literature which has incorporated them into our culture. Chapters include:Badger PhysiologyBadger WatchingBadger ThreatsThe CullThe Badger Protectors: Wounded Badger Patrol CheshireBadgers in Myth & LegendBadgers in Art & Literature

This engaging personal account of one of America's most contested wildlife conservation campaigns has as its central character the black-footed ferret. Once feared extinct, and still one of North America's rarest mammals, the black-footed ferret exemplifies the ecological, social, and political challenges of conservation in the West, including the risks involved with intensive captive breeding and reintroduction to natural habitat. David Jachowski draws on more than a decade of experience working to save the ferret. His unique perspective and informative anecdotes reveal the scientific and human aspects of conservation as well as the immense dedication required to protect a species on the edge of extinction. By telling one story of conservation biology in practiceÑits routine work, triumphs, challenges, and inevitable conflictsÑthis book gives readers a greater understanding of the conservation ethic that emerged on the Great Plains as part of one of the most remarkable recovery efforts in the history of the Endangered Species Act.