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The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids
Wild canids are fascinating ancestors of the domestic dog. This definitive book on aspects of canid biology and the conservation of wolves, dogs, jackals and foxes covers topics relevant to modern conservation science, and features detailed case studies of many canid species across the globe. A must-have for all scientists studying carnivores, predators, cooperative breeding, and social systems. A useful text for both undergraduate and graduate courses in behavioural ecology and conservation biology, and engaging reading for a wide range of wolf and domestic dog enthusiasts.
464 pages, Paperback
First published June 24, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 11, 2022
A great review of Canid Conservation around the world. The case studies were interesting snapshots of species under investigation from Grey Wolves of Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, to the Blanford's Fox in the deserts of the Middle East. While not comprehensive on the biology/ecology of canids (some species didn't even get a case study chapter such as Bush Dogs), this was an excellent primer on the diversity of species and challenges in the canid research world.
November 20, 2015
This book aims to be a synthetic overview of wild canidae, covering various topics from canid social behavior to wildlife management. It begins in Part I with an overview of the extant wild canid species, grouped according to the most common taxonomy (with 36 species), followed by review articles on canid ancestry/evolution, population genetics, society, management, infectious disease, and "tools," which is about conservation tools, such as public outreach strategies. Part II consists of case studies involving each species.
Generally speaking, the articles are of very high quality, as expected from Oxford's biology series. While some of the discussion could be a bit overly schematic or somewhat misleadingly simplified - in the population genetics chapter, for example - this can usually be attributed to the constraints of writing for an audience which does not entirely or even necessarily primarily consist of research ecologists, evolutionary biologists, etc. The book is also very clearly somewhat slanted somewhat towards conservation/management, and behavior.
Overall, the discussion is at an excellent intermediate level, perfect for scientists from other specialties or disciplines (like me) or general readers who are too advanced for most pop science books but want some grounding before they delve further into the literature.
What holds me back from giving the book a strongly positive review is not the quality of the contributions taken in isolation, but the editorial strategy. I frankly did not like the "case studies" approach. While the case studies were intrinsically interesting, they felt relatively scattershot and un-integrated; I thought the book would've been much better served by in-depth review articles for each species, to the extent possible. Case study references could then be included in end-of-chapter "further reading." I also thought that, while the review articles were excellent, the coverage was very uneven; since the book purports to be a synthetic overview, I would've liked to see a lot more material on things like anatomy, or much more about the ecology of canidae beyond social behavior, disease, and management. For example, a chapter about how canidae, and predators in general, regulate community structure.
There is some excellent content in this book to be sure, I learned a lot reading it, and I think the biologist, conservationist, or wildlife enthusiast would not be wasting their money getting this on their shelves, but I don't think it succeeds at its central mission of providing a synthetic overview of general canid biology.
Generally speaking, the articles are of very high quality, as expected from Oxford's biology series. While some of the discussion could be a bit overly schematic or somewhat misleadingly simplified - in the population genetics chapter, for example - this can usually be attributed to the constraints of writing for an audience which does not entirely or even necessarily primarily consist of research ecologists, evolutionary biologists, etc. The book is also very clearly somewhat slanted somewhat towards conservation/management, and behavior.
Overall, the discussion is at an excellent intermediate level, perfect for scientists from other specialties or disciplines (like me) or general readers who are too advanced for most pop science books but want some grounding before they delve further into the literature.
What holds me back from giving the book a strongly positive review is not the quality of the contributions taken in isolation, but the editorial strategy. I frankly did not like the "case studies" approach. While the case studies were intrinsically interesting, they felt relatively scattershot and un-integrated; I thought the book would've been much better served by in-depth review articles for each species, to the extent possible. Case study references could then be included in end-of-chapter "further reading." I also thought that, while the review articles were excellent, the coverage was very uneven; since the book purports to be a synthetic overview, I would've liked to see a lot more material on things like anatomy, or much more about the ecology of canidae beyond social behavior, disease, and management. For example, a chapter about how canidae, and predators in general, regulate community structure.
There is some excellent content in this book to be sure, I learned a lot reading it, and I think the biologist, conservationist, or wildlife enthusiast would not be wasting their money getting this on their shelves, but I don't think it succeeds at its central mission of providing a synthetic overview of general canid biology.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews