Pets Books

Thanks to Paul for sharing his understanding and knowledge of said mushrooms with the world. Beautiful book.

Most mushroom guides don't include these specimens, so a good addition to your field guides....

So many people are utterly consumed with their work life that they are avidly avoiding a spiritual experience, which is at the heart of what is ideal. This book may help serve as a gentlemenly guide to embarking on an organized hunt for fungi and an organized understanding of how to incorporate them into personal experience. Although some may argue with me, I would say this is actually high level reading.
The book provides the following:
The effects of psilocybin mushrooms
How to identify them while hunting outdoors
Tips on ingesting them and experiencing them
Pictures and diagrams to help identify them
Individual species descriptions
Poisonous look alikes
Includes a forward by renowned physician Dr. Andrew Weil

There is a wealth of info in this book and it is the best book on this subject.

This is a detailed and fun book. It's probably what you're looking for. It contains clear descriptions, many quality pictures, suggestions about variations among species, safety considerations, and a helpful rating scale of very low to very high potency, also making it clear when the potency is unknown. For me, I chose to partner this book with a larger book which includes all species, just so I'm clear what I'm looking at and for, especially when it comes to ingestion, better to be extra careful, right?

...you're looking for. I've read a few books on the subject. If you want to hunt with confidence, than here ya' go.

A very good book. The DVD is the next best thing to having someone show you how to do the techniques in real life, very well done.

Like I said about the companion volume, don't forget to review recommendations with your vet.

Our anticipated (via x-ray) litter of 1 Boxer puppy was born healthy on 6/6. Although I did not need this book (this time) it was definitely a worthwhile read and has much information. The DVD is a bit slow and very repetitive but I'm sure if I had needed to care info it would have been helpful. I loved the warming bed box and will be incorporating that for next time. Thankfully we did not need this book, but perhaps a little advance knowledge made me simply excited and not worried made all the difference. It is a book I shall keep in our library.

Although this is a very good resource book for welping puppies, and the care of the mothers, I believe the author's suggestion of complete intervention by humans during the welping process is taking control away from the mother. Her suggestions on how to indentify puppies in distress after welping is invaluable for all breeders. It is an excellent resource and I highly recomment this book!

This is the second book by this author that I've purchased. She does a wonderful job with her whelping and puppy books. If you ever get a chance to read one of these, or go to one of her seminars, DO IT!!!

If there is any one book that any breeder, whether it is an occasional family pet or professional breeder, this would be the one to have. It goes into details and is easily understood. It contains information that may save a puppies life. I have had my book for sometime and recently ordered one for my grandson. He lost an entire litter which I believe could have been saved if he had read this book.

It is a great book, answering everything an owner has to know for an African Grey parrot.

This little book is packed with information about how to care for, and be a good companion to, the incredibly intelligent African Grey parrot. It's a very good how-to with lots of advice and information - and more importantly, for those considering bringing one of these amazing birds into their families, it provides a good synopsis about the nature of the lifetime commitment that comes with that decision.

So please - if you're a new Grey owner, or just thinking about buying one, pick up this book. You'll be glad you did.

Amazon is a very Good service .. no waiting around ;)
an this book ha ha was very Nice only problem was so Nice I Ordered it twice an sent a copy to Mother as We both have African Grey Parrots an She said Richard
.. thats the Book I already sent to You
so Yes very Nice Book !

Book give us all knowledge to start take care of african grey parrots.

Very good Book

I recently read Maggie's book and was very delighted with it. I have never owned a bird, but have always been fascinated by them. This book really put some things in perspective for a complete novice on the nature of these birds. I think it is a very good guide for those of us who know absolutely nothing about them but would like to. Maggie was recently a guest on our online radio show and it was wonderful to hear her birds talking in the background as we spoke and listen to her share her complete love of and admiration for these wonderful birds.

This book has beautiful photography to go along with Maggie's simple to understand and implement writing in this book and I highly recommend it.

I had heard about this story and it seemed almost impossible that anyone would be brave enough to do what this man did - go to Iraq in the middle of the war to save the animals of the Baghdad zoo. I found this book at my local library and read it almost in one sitting - it's a good read, well-written, but it's the story itself that is amazing. The book tells the story in vivid detail, a sadder, scarier and more horrifying story than I had imagined, yet told with some humor, and with many examples of how the decency and courage of individuals does make a difference. Here's an average guy - just like you and me - ok, maybe not all of us run nature preserves in Africa - but still, not a soldier, not a person trained to survive in the chaos of war. He arrives in this chaos, recognizes it's worse than he had imagined, but instead of saying "big mistake, I'm getting out of here," he draws that line in the sand: "I'm here, I committed myself, I'm going to do something about it." And then carries through. If this were a movie, I'd be applauding.

After reading the graphic novel "Pride of Baghdad," I was very interested in what happened to the zoo in Baghdad, so I tracked down this book by Lawrence Anthony.

From this book I learned a lot about what it was/is like in Iraq from an outsider's perspective at the heart of Baghdad just after the invasion - the hardships, violence, lack of sanitation, futility, and destruction. This one man's battle to save the remaining animals that were not stolen or killed in the zoo is an amazing documentation of courage, compassion, and determination. Lawrence Anthony has a big heart and an impressive amount of "liver," so to speak. ;)

I was struck by many things in this book - first the quick degradation of humanity in a situation where law and order has gone out the window. So many people rely on the innate good nature of mankind to somehow overcome and make our own peace, yet as soon as the police and established enforcement were gone in Baghdad, theft and vandalism took over. Left to our own devices, we are a sick sad species, bent on taking for ourselves at the expense of others. If you think your country would do anything less once the law was dispelled, you are mistaken. It makes me think of all the riots that have taken place in U.S. history. The inclination of the majority is to pillage and loot rather than organize and construct. It's no wonder the world is being increasingly destroyed. We are innately screwed up.

This book also showed me the hopeful side of humanity though - those willing to take a stand and brave the odds to bring order and safety back. Those courageous Iraqis who worked so hard alongside Anthony were an inspiration and an honorable representation of the human race. The risks all of them took to help the helpless should be lauded by everyone as an act of the utmost heroism.

There is so much frustration in this book - difficult to read at times as you experience yourself the sinking hope and exhaustion those few stubborn men (and women). But through it all they endure and ultimately succeed in their efforts.

I liked this book because of the insight into both the lightness and the darkness of humanity, as well as tangibly real descriptions of situations that make it easy to imagine you're there. Anthony also keeps things interesting by interjecting little snippets of his own history and other people's experiences into the flow of things.

The ending turns into a big lecture on global warming and the destruction of the planet, but I guess that's to be expected. And really, even if you are reluctant to run after the green bandwagon, you cannot deny that our planet does need our help. If not the weather (which it may very well be too difficult to change) the life we are continuing to mow down and extinguish (often permanently). We may like to think that this world is too big for measly old us to make a dent in, but that same logic is what made the bison and passenger pigeons go from populations of millions to extinction (or the verge of it for the bison).
It is important also, however, not to forget that people should not be ignored as we try to improve things. Just like Lawrence has to make sure the Iraqi workers were fed first, we should not put such a priority on ecological improvements that the poor and desperately starving are trampled or further impoverished by those efforts. There has to be a balance of compassion.

Thanks, Anthony Lawrence, for passing on your experience to the rest of us. I hope everyone who reads your writings learns as much if not more than I did, and takes inspiration from your kind and peace-making attitude.

Anthony, a South African elephant conservationist, was appalled when he heard that the animals at the Kabul zoo were killed in the war in Afghanistan. When the war in Iraq started, he decided to go to Baghdad and help save the animals at the Baghdad zoo from the same fate. Anthony got a real education walking into a war zone and finding the zoo completely looted and all but 30 of the creatures dead or missing. Slowly, and with the help of brave Iraqi vets and zookeepers, concerned American soldiers, and one crazy taxi driver, Anthony helped lead the zoo's recovery into a safe place for the animals and a haven of normalcy for Baghdad families.

If a story like this is competently told, it really can't miss, and this one hits the mark. Anthony has many interesting things to say, good stories, and the right combination of indignation and MASH-style humor.
The last chapter bogs down in hopeless idealism about international cooperation (IMHO), but this book will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the topic or the experiences of an ordinary civilian trying to get something done in a war zone.

Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark.

Great! a gripping account of how one man spearheaded a rescue attempt on the Baghdad zoo. Well written. Amazing what can be done when the passion and the will to do come together in a man who loved animals and who understood what it took to make a zoo happen in spite of a violent war being fought on all sides.

I truly enjoyed reading "Babylon's Ark." The news is often full of disheartening examples of man's inhumanity to man and to animals. It's wonderful to see examples of courage and love that show us man's great humanity. Such is the case of Lawrence Anthony, a conservationist from South Africa, who felt compelled to rescue the animals in the Baghdad zoo.

Anthony pulled many strings to be able to enter a war zone in his eagerness to save these animals, but he was unprepared for the terrible condition of the animals and the places they lived. I loved his philosophy " whatever happens finish the task you start." It was his ability to concentrate on one task at a time that kept him from being overwhelmed.

The stories of individual animals are sometimes tragic and sometimes heartwarming and always interesting. And when Anthony set out to do the impossible, others joined in. A great story!

This book was funny and informative. I read his freshwater guide and loved it. He tells lots of useful information with pictures! Read this book!!

First I would like to start off by saying this book is extremely informative. It tells you everything you need to know about setting up a saltwater tank. The information that is provided in this book is very up to date unlike many other beginner books I have read. Not only is the book Chock full of GREAT info, but it also has great pictures, great suggestions on extra reading materials, and even some fishy humor added in. To top it off after purchasing this book I later found out that the author worked at my local Aquarium store in Randallstown, MD! Whats even better is that I know many people that are in this book and I see many of the examples in the store everytime I visit it. So if you are looking for an all around great book check this one out.

I have read several books, and this one was by far the easiest to read! But don't let that fool you! Despite this, it is full of great information! If you are looking into getting saltwater fish, and don't want a book which sounds like a college chemistry book, this is the one for you!

This is a GREAT book for a person who knows absolutely nothing about aquariums. It gives great details in explaining everything from beginning to completion in simple terms that anyone can understand. It was most helpful in helping to set up my first and only aquarium.

As a novice aquarist, I have to say that this book is GREAT! Ihad read many books on the subject, but this one gave me the courageto actually set up my dream marine aquarium. It has been eight months, and I now have a tank to be proud of. It has inspired several friends and family to start their own. They also have learned a great deal from this book. It is now well worn from use. It continues to be my bible for any questions I may have.

Lydia Hiby is a phenomenon. This book about her experiences and process is fascinating. As we have had past and current clients (cats) in our family, this book answers questions that we just never got around to asking...and then some. If you are cynic, this probably won't change you mind (though it should). Highly recommended.

I have used Lydia's communicating services in helping my cats through behaviorial problems and even the death of a cat. I was anxious to read her book and when it arrived in the mail and I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The stories are heartwarming and inspirational to all who love animals. I strongly recommend this book to every animal lover, who like myself, wishes to talk to animals.

What an awakening Ms Hiby's book provided me. She can help us all regain some basics from our earliest childhood. There's a whole world of communication and thought going on among the animals, and we miss most of it because we've grown up parroting what we were told..."they can't talk", "we don't really hear them". Well, fortunatly for me, Lydia Hiby in her simple, honest, and loving book, has reopened my mind and 'ears'. I DO remember talking with dogs and cats and cows and ducks and pigs when I was a little girl on my folks' farm. It was just part of life. That WAS my first language. Then I went to elementary school and all my focus was shifted to humans and what I now consider my second language...English. So, as I read her book and absorbed each additional example of the compassion, and understanding that the non-human creatures have of our limited and egocentric species, I remembered. The very simple awareness that reopens this 'hidden world' for us was pointed out by this lovely book, and generously shared by this talented author and communicator. I'm thankful and enriched.

I got this book as a gift from a friend who had Lydia do a reading on her horse. I have always been facinated with anyone who can talk to the animals and was thrilled to find a section where I could learn how to do it! I had previously purchased "how to" video tapes and was very dissappointed to find that they had no instructional value and were just testimonials about the communicator. This book was a facinating read and a great guideline! My dog and I are most grateful!

This book is written from the heart! The experiences are insightful and moving. It opens the mind to the potential within us to deepen our bond not only with our own companions, but with all animals on this planet. The techniques outlined are the building blocks to develop the "communicator" inside us all. Lydia and her book have opened a new world for me. She has dedicated her life to her gift and has inspired me to follow in her footsteps. Everyone has their own talent and path and none of us is perfect. It is through our humanity that we learn and grow every day. This book has made a monumental difference in my life and has taught me that all is possible if you come from a loving place in your heart!

This book talks about friends putting on a magic show for Hank's cousins. Frankie, one of Hank's friends, is the magician. He remembers that he wants to see a monster movie so Hank says he's going to record it.But he presses the wrong button. Frankie gets mad when they get home. Hank is so sorry he takes the cable box apart. They buy a new one the guy for the cable company has a copy of the movie that Hank didn't record. Then Hank invites Frankie over to see the movie.I like this book because it has a good ending and it like he's talking to you.

This is a good book because it has a lot of action. The book has a lot of action because Hank thought his sister iguana laid eggs in a cable box. Read on to see what happens.

The Day of the Iguana tells the story of a fourth grader named Hank Zipzer and his sister's iguana. Science projects are coming due for Hank, so he has to find a project and fast. He gets the idea to take apart his cable box and see what's inside. Wha† he didn't count on is his sister Emily's iguaua laying 23 eggs.
This book gives you a look at a boy called Hank Zipzer and how he gets through a few months of fourth grade with his best friend Frankie and his sister Emily and her iguana Catharine. The story starts in the beautiful modern city of New York. Hank has to put on a magic show for his twin cousins and promises Frankie to tape a monster movie when there doing the show but he accidentally presses the wrong button and tapes something else. Hank feels so guilty that he decides to take apart a cable box and see if he can prevent that from happening in the future. My favorite part in the book is when the baby iguanas are born. They are so cute. I recommend this book to children and family because it is about honor and trust. It is a great book and teaches kids that iguana birth can make a big change to your life. It also teaches you how to be a great friend.
W.S.

A story about three friends Hank, Frankie, and Ashley. Hank and his friends are a magic act they call themselves The Magik 3. Hank's twin cousins are turning four years old. The twin's parents hire a clown but the clown gets sick. Hank's aunt needs to find an act for the birthday party. She askes Hank if he and his friends would perform. Hank and his friends agree to perform. Then Frankie remembers that there is a monster movie marthon that he can't miss. Read the book to see what happens.

The way I see it, any book that can keep a 10 year old boy away from his video games, gets 5 stars and then some. "Day of the Iguana" and the other eight books will do for boys what "The Babysitters Club" did for girls. I've been waiting a long time for something boys can relate to other than "Yu Gi Oh" comic books and "Captain Underpants." Henry Winkler has done that with Hank Zipzer and his friends, he's made reading fun for boys. You can count on Hank getting himself in a situation that would be best handled being straightforward and you can count on him going out of his way being anything but. The best part is watching you kid choose Hank over the TV. Parents all over will understand just what an accomplishment that is.

Great book for anyone who likes dogs. My wife wants to go to the Dog Chapel now.

This book should be required reading for all dog lovers and those that have lost their canine loves. Huneck is in touch with those feelings. Recommend to all.

Very sweet and comforting book for those who have suffered the loss of a beloved pet. Good for children & adults. How wonderful to be offered an opportunity to send pictures of your pet to be placed in memory at the Remembrance Wall at the DOG CHAPEL-
Mr Huneck- the author as well as artist for the book-must be a special person to create this loving tribute. I'll bet his dogs think so too!

This is the best book. I always gift it when someone has a beloved dog pass away. Huneck has a gift with his books.

This is a beautiful book, well written, and full of wonderful pictures. The authors account of how the book came to be is touching. For anyone who has had to put their dog to sleep, a gift of this book would be of great comfort. There is even a memorial picture frame in the back of the book in which you can send a photo of your dog up to the chapel.

The novel, The Dogs Who Came to Stay by George Pitcher depicts the lives of four beings, two dogs and two humans. It is a memoir written in honor of Lupa and Remus, two dogs that changed the lives of their owners and offer proof that animals have emotions as well as rational thought. George Pitcher describes how his life and the life of his friend Ed Cone were greatly influenced by these two very unique creatures. The book is full of funny as well as emotionally appealing anecdotes about their lives with the dogs. Upon beginning the book it is easy to think that it was the two dogs who gained the most by being adopted into the home of George and Ed. By the end, it is apparent that the human's lives were influenced just as much as the dogs were by this act of kindness.

In his writing, Pitcher is able to demonstrate and portray the obvious emotions, affections, reasoning, and personality that is contained within this being, the dog. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs, likes to read a touching story, and especially to anyone who doubts that animals have and can display emotions.

This book is a very interesting, exiting and humorous. It is a real life story of love and friendship, that will appeal to readers both young and old. Remus has a winning, positively personality that people recognized at once.

The book is so exiting and very humorous. The type of the book is caring and loving.The story shows the relationship between George and the dogs.The most character I loved was Remus.He is so energetic and playful.

I stumbled upon this book in the library recently, and have since told all my friends they must read it!! I think the fact that it was written by a man made it even more special. It always surprises me when men show their feelings so openly and with total abandonment, eg: Nicholas Sparks, James Michael Pratt, to name a few... The love and devotion that these two Princeton professors had for these dogs was so intense. Their dedication to the animals was astounding and therefore reciprocated in great abundance. Anyone who owns a dog, has ever owned a dog, or needs to be convinced of the immeasurable experience of owning a dog, needs to read this book. It touched me more than any story of animal/person unconditional love and devotion that I have ever read. A must read!

This is a true tale of the stray wild dog, who looking for a place to have her imminent brood of pups, takes up residence under the shed of two middle-aged batchelor academics at Princeton. They slowly befriend her and coax her out to trust them and take food for the pups. Despite their busy lives she is greatly loved, and she and one of her pups become very much part of the family. The story is told very simply and lovingly. They have some entertaining experiences in French restaurants and aboard ocean-going liners. Recommended for dog-lovers everywhere, who will all relate to it strongly.

This book is very important to read: mostly because so few people know about the bushmeat trade in Africa and its impact on the great apes. The book goes into why apes are worth saving, the contribution of logging to crisis, how the crisis is kept hidden, and suggestions on how to alleviate the problem. You will be very surprised to learn the lengths, difficulties, and dangers the contributors of the book go through simply to bring this issue into the spotlight. I also found it very shameful how the crisis has been ignored and exacerbated by the media and the conservation groups.


Honestly though, I felt the book was a little long. It's not actually a long book, but its longer than it needs to be. It seemed to get a little repetitive as the author kept hammering the same points over again. Also, though the author does include an aside on vegetarianism and its merits (while discouraging veganism), he is not a vegetarian himself. While this is, of course, not the subject of the book I feel that if he is going to argue to protect the great apes on the grounds of their sentience, than it is wrong to overlook the sentience of cows, chickens, and especially pigs (who have the same mental capacity as a dog). This is just a minor criticism, but it did bother me a little throughout the book.

So yes, you should read this book. Its very thorough, detailed, complete, and compelling. You will learn a lot and, if the authors have succeeded (and I think they have), you will be sufficiently outraged and willing to contribute to the cause.

Sometime far in our past, humans took up rocks and sticks to hunt food instead of scavenging from other predators. With our meat available today in shrink-wrapped containers it's easy to lose sight of that long-standing tradition. Others in the world still obtain meat in the traditional environment. The difference is that instead of spears, the weapons are high-powered shotguns. Instead of skulking through the forest seeking prey, hunters are now given rides by timber carriers using deep-penetrating access roads. In this book, Dale Peterson reveals the transformations forest hunting has undergone in West African nations. It's not a
pleasing picture, but it's valid and it's important. And it must change.

The bushmeat trade has many implications, but Peterson has chosen three significant ones. One, of course, is that by killing chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas for food, we're consuming our nearest relations. The primate line divided only 12 million years ago, with the descendants of one line becoming today's mountain gorillas. The other line led to chimpanzees and bonobos with a spur turning off about 7 million years ago leading to you and me. The proximity of chimpanzee and human DNA patterns is no longer news, but the reminder needs to be flashed occasionally.

Another implication is health. With so much attention given to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it's worth reflecting on its origins. More importantly, as Peterson reminds us, is to consider how it works. HIV/AIDS appears to be a recent evolutionary virus quirk. It adapts and evolves with amazing speed. The roots of it remain in the African forest and a new strain can emerge at any time. The best means of transmission from ape or monkey to human is through blood - that stuff the hunter is soaked in as he butchers his forest kill.

The third theme is the question of human relations with the rest of our environment. Human population growth is presented in a novel framework. How many humans come into existence every day is contrasted with the great ape population. Peterson calculates that the entire gorilla population is equalled by new humans every twelve hours. Population pressures in the "developed" world lead to demands for African timber products. In turn, the timber firms are cutting great swaths of forest using displaced populations for labour. To feed these workers, hunters are hired or loggers hunt and apes, due to their availability and size, become a major food source. In a feedback cycle of habitat reduction and hunting, the apes are simply being exterminated. Recovery would require sharply reduced logging. Peterson notes that trees are being taken that began growth in Michaelangelo's time, but their replacements will be cut in only forty years.

Peterson is effusive in his description of the significant role played by Swiss photographer Karl Ammann. Ammann's chance encounter with a logging truck driver revealed the role international logging firms play in the ape slaughter and the extended bushmeat trade. The logging firms, particularly CIB, contend they are providing "employment for locals, health services, food and education". Peterson explains the falsity of this contention, with "health services limited to a nurse and schools and teachers paid for by the workers' families.

Peterson argues that the long-established bushmeat tradition is already lost, displaced by commercial logging practices and new, mass hunting methods using guns, sometimes lent by government officials. If we can change a culture, such as was done with slavery, hunting traditions no longer tenable can be modified, as well. He cites the willingness of Americans to spend minimal annual funds to protect wolves, bears and other fauna. Why not establish a fund for ape protection. He calculates that US$1 billion per year could be raised with an individual contribution of but US$50. Not an enormous sum, given that other donations and military expenditures far exceed it. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

What animals we eat are selected by what culture we grow up in. Distant societies think nothing of eating dogs. Some closer ones think eating horse is completely acceptable. Then there are frogs, snakes, and insect larvae. It is all a matter of getting enough protein. One man's protein is another man's atrocity. Americans are used to eating meat they find in Styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic, but the indigenous peoples of central Africa have always eaten the animals living around them: elephants, antelopes, porcupines, rodents, and so on. They don't mind a stew of gorilla or a chimp's sirloin, and what of it? It's the way they have always done things. Tribal languages, in fact, often use the same word for wild animal as they do for meat. The world, however, is not the way it always was, and a shocking book, _Eating Apes_ (University of California Press) by Dale Peterson, shows that apes on the menu is not something the world ought to continue to accept.

We ourselves are members of the tribe of great apes; chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans are on the branch with us. But if African tribes don't share our scientific view or our squeamishness, traditional hunters, in predation balance over the centuries, surely are not going to do lasting harm. Traditional hunting, however, is no longer traditional. There has been an invasion from outside the continent by logging companies, making huge profits from our demand for hardwoods. The companies have lots of workers, many of them from the region, and all the workers have to be fed. Hunters, many of whom are also from the region, are hired to bring in the protein. Bows, arrows, and nets have given way to the far more efficient and deadly wire snares and automatic rifles and shotguns. Perhaps if greater firepower were the only threat to our primate cousins, they could still make it. But we are destroying their habitat (again, mostly by logging), and primates will suffer before other species because of their slow rate of reproduction. There are plenty of species headed toward extinction, but few because we are eating them, and none so close to us evolutionarily. In addition, butchering the apes may be the way humans got HIV and Ebola viruses. It may well be that you haven't heard of the problem of eating apes into extinction because the conservation organizations are keeping quiet about such a downer of a message, and because they are, believe it or not, in partnership with the loggers.

What will be needed is the courage to challenge cultural convictions. It is possible for the West to value (or at least claim to value) sensitivity to other cultures, but in the case of eating apes, it will have to impose scientific knowledge of close kinship, risk of disease, and impending loss of primates to get the native cultures to change. It may even be possible within the corporate culture, which mines habitats to get at profits, to insist not just on sustainable development (a nebulous idea the logging companies pay lip service to) but to take on a wider view of environmental improvement. You can figure up the odds of occurrence of these cultural changes, and especially if you look at our past record, you will not be optimistic. Peterson includes an appendix of what you, and what conservation organizations, can do; he obviously is not giving up hope. Perhaps it is a sign of hope that his reasonable and dispassionate account of this disaster will start many people thinking about the previously covert problem of the loss of the apes. Nevertheless, this is a profoundly disturbing and sad book, and will not be forgotten by those who can get through it.

American and international conservation organizations may be doing little more than feel-good guilt assuaging with many of their slick magazine glossy photos, while ignoring a huge elephant right in front of the world's faces and refusing to show readers the problem.

So says Peterson in the challenging and disturbing book Eating Apes.

Peterson writes about the hunting for bushmeat in Central Africa, specifically hunting great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. He accuses the Wildlife Conservation Society of doing little more than giving PR flak to a German logging concern in the Congo, CIB, a decade ago, just at the time public pressure was starting to ratchet up on the issue, in large part due to photographer Karl Ammann.

He also accuses Wildlife Conservation, the magazine of WCS, along with National Geographic and other such magazines and other media for generally downplaying or even spiking the issue. Ammann, as interviewed in the book, is even blunter, noting how several wildlife conservation magazines said they didn't want his pictures specifically because they were too controversial and, in not so many words, too guilt-provoking while showing that the modern western-nation wildlife preservation industry wasn't wearing any clothes on this issue.

Read Eating Apes. Then rethink your donations to wildlife groups, at least without some strong letters to the editor.

With its appealing cover-picture of two baby chimps and its appalling title, "Eating Apes" is a must read for everybody interested in conservation in general and the survival of the great apes in particular. Although I've been already aware of the bushmeat crisis through voluntary work at a zoo, this book hit me hard. The scope of denial by many - individuals and conservation groups alike - paired with risky relationships between NGOs and logging companies is driving our closest living relatives - the great apes - to extinction. Dale Peterson's book encompasses every aspect of this difficult and very complex issue and Karl Ammann's pictures and comments provide further evidence of what really is happening. Everbody who makes or is going to make decisions regarding the bushmeat trade, logging, development and conservation in central Africa has to read this book before making those important and far-reaching decisions. My next task will be to check with the various conservation groups I support, to find out what they are planning to do about this subject. Depending on their answers, I may well choose to cancel some memberships. Something I haven't actually thought about before reading this book - so I hope that many others will follow suit and choose action over complacency!