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The Decline of the World's Great Animal Migrations
Island Books
October 2007
On Sale: October 15, 2007
256 pages
ISBN: 1559639857
EAN: 9781559639859
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Animal migration is a magnificent sight: a mile-long blanket
of cranes rising from a Nebraska river and filling the sky;
hundreds of thousands of wildebeests marching across the
Serengeti; a blaze of orange as millions of monarch
butterflies spread their wings to take flight. Nature’s
great migrations have captivated countless spectators, none
more so than premier ecologist David S. Wilcove. In No Way
Home, his awe is palpable—as are the growing threats to
migratory animals. We may be witnessing a dying phenomenon among many species.
Migration has always been arduous, but today’s travelers
face unprecedented dangers. Skyscrapers and cell towers lure
birds and bats to untimely deaths, fences and farms block
herds of antelope, salmon are caught en route between ocean
and river, breeding and wintering grounds are paved over or
plowed, and global warming disrupts the synchronized
schedules of predators and prey. The result is a dramatic
decline in the number of migrants. Wilcove guides us on their treacherous journeys, describing
the barriers to migration and exploring what compels animals
to keep on trekking. He also brings to life the adventures
of scientists who study migrants. Often as bold as their
subjects, researchers speed wildly along deserted roads to
track birds soaring overhead, explore glaciers in search of
frozen locusts, and outfit dragonflies with transmitters
weighing less than one one-hundredth of an ounce. Scientific discoveries and advanced technologies are helping
us to understand migrations better, but alone, they won’t
stop sea turtles and songbirds from going the way of the
bison or passenger pigeon. What’s required is the commitment
and cooperation of the far-flung countries migrants
cross—long before extinction is a threat. As Wilcove writes,
“protecting the abundance of migration is key to protecting
the glory of migration.” No Way Home offers powerful
inspiration to preserve those glorious journeys.
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