Bøger af Craig Packer

"Lions lead intricate lives. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together. But though life at the top of the food chain may mean that lions have little to fear from other species - they can easily dominate every other carnivore in their midst - they still must constantly safeguard against the threat posed by other lions. Each day is dominated by the demands of raising a family while protecting themselves against enemies endowed with the same strengths and skills. Biologist Craig Packer has spent his career studying the African lion, one of the most fascinating animals on earth. In this book, he synthesizes his decades of research in the Serengeti into an up-to-date portrait of the African lion, and reveals how he and his colleagues have come to understand this creature's behavior, ecology, and conservation. Packer opens the book by providing readers with background on lions' territory, daily behavior, lifespan, and physiology. From there he delves more deeply into lion society, illustrating the complexity of lion life from cub rearing and foraging to competition with other lions. In the final chapters, Packer zooms out to summarize what is known about lion ecological abundance and distribution as well as their conservation status. Not surprisingly, lions are increasingly threatened; however, Packer ends his book on a hopeful note, pointing to programs that are successfully protecting lion populations"--

The Serengeti is one of the world's most renowned ecosystems, and at its apex prowls the Serengeti Lion. These majestic mammals are iconic, and integral, and also in constant danger from encroaching humans. Craig Packer is among the unique species that has spent a lifetime ensuring the study and perpetuity of these dark maned cats. He has dedicated countless research hours and dollars to the coexistence of humans and wildlife in the Serengeti. He has even proposed ways of using lion hunting to ensure their value, and hence their protection. "Lions in the Balance "takes us into the red-in-tooth-and-claw world of lion conservation. It is an incredibly candid, entertaining, and at points alarming look at what the future of the Serengeti lions entails, and how the politics of conservation require survival strategies far more creative and powerful than what animals (humans included) on the savannas must possess. A sequel to Mr. Packer's "Into Africa, "this diary based chronicle of the past decade draws readers along the dusty trails and into the spectacular sunsets of the Serengeti. Through his experiences we learn that female lions prefer their male manes dark and long, that lion attacks on humans most commonly occur during the full moon cycles, and that citizen science is shaping the world--Packer's initiative Snapshot Serengeti has helped engage globally, and locally, and has identified thousands of images of the Serengeti. The narrative moves from Arusha to the Serengeti to Washington DC, and with some temporal hopping, as often the stories are as rich and multilayered as the Serengeti ecosystem. And Mr. Packer demonstrates that he possesses himself a bit of cat, having needed nearly nine lives to persist in the ever dynamic and vexed world of conservation in Africa.

In this work Craig Packer introduces the reader to the real world of fieldwork - initiating assistants to lion research in the Serengeti, helping a doctoral student collect data, collaborating with Jane Goodall on primate research.