Book
Description
A dazzling photographic and scientific
portrait of how wolves are changing the very nature of
Yellowstone. Highly acclaimed for its accuracy and photography
of wild wolves.
“The book is breathtaking! For anyone who has traveled
to Yellowstone in recent years and seen the wolves, this
book is must reading.”
-National Wildlife Federation
“Outstanding and very accurate. (Halfpenny) puts all the scientific research
into common language. He fills in with personal observations. The stories really
personalize what happened.”
-Ed Bangs, Wolf Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service
About
the Author and Photographer
Dr. James Halfpenny is the author of Yellowstone
Wolves in the Wild and Yellowstone Bears in
the Wild. He has also written Discovering Yellowstone
Wolves: Watcher’s Guide; A Field Guide to Mammal
Tracking in North America; Winter: An Ecological Handbook;
and several other books about wildlife, ecology, and
tracking. A scientist and educator, he owns A Naturalist’s
World, a company dedicated to providing educational programs,
books, slide shows, and videos about ecologically important
subjects. He lives in Gardiner, Montana, near Yellowstone
National Park’s northern entrance.
Trained
as a biologist, Michael Francis is an internationally renowned
wildlife photographer. He has 34 single-photographer books
to his credit, including Yellowstone Memories: 30 years
of Photographs & Stories and Watching Yellowstone
and Grand Teton Wildlife. His work has been published
by the National Geographic Society, the Audubon Society,
and the National Wildlife Federation, along with numerous
magazines and periodicals. He lives in Billings, Montana.
Press
Release
New book reveals how wild wolves are changing Yellowstone’s ecology
Yellowstone’s wolves provide thrills and new discoveries
New discoveries about wolves, plus exciting eyewitness observations and incredible photographs, are brought together in an extraordinary book about the wolves of Yellowstone National Park. Written by noted naturalist Dr. James C. Halfpenny of Gardiner, Montana, “Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild” (Riverbend) vividly portrays the park’s “new” wolves and the ways they are changing the park’s very nature.
Yellowstone’s wolves have become the most easily seen wild wolves in the world, a phenomenon no one predicted when wolves were reintroduced into the park in 1995 and 1996. This visibility has thrilled thousands of park visitors and enabled scientists to make astonishing discoveries about wolf behavior.
“Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild” presents new information about wolf social behavior, pack structures, territories, and hunting behavior. Some of the most fascinating stories involve interactions with other wildlife. There is a wonderful examination of the symbiotic relationship with ravens and a cutting-edge discussion of “trophic cascade,” an ecological theory that predicts how the presence of wolves will affect the entire ecosystem. There are even tips about where and how to see wolves in the park.
Wolf lovers will be pleased to know the book does not use any photographs of captive or game-farm animals. All photos are of wild, free, Yellowstone wolves—another testament to the wolves’ high visibility. There are beautiful portraits of wolves howling and running through the snow; rarely seen behavior such as wolves hunting elk and bison, chasing coyotes, and tending pups at a den; and several dramatic photos of events never before captured on film. One photo shows a wolf pack standing in a circle around the body of a wolf they had just killed in a territorial battle. Another shows a wolf trying to kill a grizzly bear cub while the mother bear literally stands guard over it.
Dr. Halfpenny, a scientist and author who teaches wolf classes for the park’s interpretive association, based the book on interviews with dozens of scientists, park officials, and “wolf watchers,” the hundreds of dedicated wolf lovers who spend days, weeks, and even months in the park simply looking for wolves.
Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader Douglas C. Smith wrote the book’s foreword and points out how unusual it is to see wolves “virtually every day.”
“In June 2002, the 100,000 Yellowstone visitor laid her eyes on a wolf—a phenomenal statistic,” Smith writes. “I worked on wolves for 13 years in Isle Royale National Park, hiking 500 miles each summer, and if I saw one wolf it was an accomplishment.”
A portion of the book’s proceeds goes to the Wolf Fund to support wolf research in the park. The 104-page, art-quality paperback costs $19.95 and is available at bookstores or by calling the publisher toll-free at 1-866-787-2363.
Reviews
Praise for Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild
“Photographically rich.”
Washington Post
“Pretty outstanding and very accurate. (Halfpenny) puts all the scientific research into common language. He filled in with personal observations. The stories really personalize what happened.”
Ed Bangs, Wolf Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Helena, Montana
“There have been seven books on Yellowstone’s wolves. This is the first on what wolves have accomplished, how wolves interact with other species.”
Bob Crabtree, Chief Scientist, Yellowstone Ecological Research Center
Bozeman, Montana
“Jim tells the true tales.”
Dr. Douglas Smith, Wolf Project Leader
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
“The book is breathtaking! For anyone who has traveled to Yellowstone in recent years and seen the wolves, this book is must reading.”
National Wildlife Federation
“It's fabulous.”
Defenders of Wildlife
“Captivating and thoroughly fascinating.”
Big Sky Journal
“Extraordinarily compelling.”
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
“A great collection of photographs and a compelling story.”
Jackson Hole News
“Absolutely beautiful.”
Wolf Magazin, Germany
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