The Hidden Nations of Animals: A Grand Tour of Earth's Wild Civilizations

by Ryan Huling, Oliver Uberti (Illustrator)

A transformative exploration of the animal kingdom that will fill you with wonder, revealing Earth's wild civilizations as you've never seen them before

In The Hidden Nations of Animals, Ryan Huling takes us on an odyssey to places most people don’t even know exist. From far-flung forest settlements in Canada’s “beaver belt” and disputed territories of clashing Argentine ant armies to the secluded margins of the Korean DMZ—which, despite its reputation as a desolate no-man’s-land, teems with life—Huling’s journey unveils a radically reimagined world, brimming with abundance.

Along the way, we meet internationally renowned wildlife researchers, geographers, anthropologists, and historians whose work has uncovered animal metropolises nestled within the urban sprawl of the American Southwest, vast sub-Saharan tunnel complexes mere inches beneath our feet, and ancient Silk Road-style migration routes that traverse the Eurasian Steppe.

When humans settle in an area, it is deemed, by definition, populated. By contrast, the millions of other species we share this planet with have long been viewed as fleeting ephemera, living brief and transitory lives in “uninhabited” wilderness.

Over the course of a year, Huling investigates how technology is rapidly changing that perception by deepening humanity’s understanding of our fellow animals and their unique relationships with the land, air, and sea. His immersive account fuses with vivid full-color maps and hand-drawn sketches by award-winning cartographer Oliver Uberti, adding new layers to our landscapes and illuminating their true contours for the first time.

An instant classic of nature writing, The Hidden Nations of Animals is a breathtaking blueprint for a more expansive view of animalkind, inspired by the profound sense of awe that accompanies an expedition into unknown lands.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Science, Audiobook, Ecology, Environment

288 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2026

Reviews

[Renato · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Humanity is not the custodian of creation. Indeed we are often the followers, chasing other animals and navigating their worlds which we often think of as our own."

Thank you to the author and Haven for an advanced copy of this title

I got strong vibes of Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See from this title.

This was a fantastic dive into the unknown world of life on planet Earth.

I appreciated how the author's approach on this: starting with settlements, and then proceeding through zoocities, and then animal "nations" as the complexity of each level of ecologicial interaction increases. His chapter on animal transit channels was also sobering to remind us that we are all creatures that need to get around (and I especially loved the idea of elephants being able to re-pave ancient migratory roads).

My main regret is that I did not have a physical copy which undoubtedly would have photographs of the creatures featured within: Saiga antelopes, Red-Crowned Cranes, Mexican Free-tail bats, Zambian Mole Rats etc.

[George Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two overlapping kinds of people will like this book: (1) those who enjoy spending lots of unplanned, uncertain time in nature (that's not me very much); (2) those who believe that we humans are messing up the world and that we need to reorient our thinking to appreciate that all being have a right to live out their own destiny (that's me and that's why I read the book).

[Burt Heacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating Read!

The Hidden Nations of Animals by Ryan Huling is a fresh and visually stunning work of nature writing that challenges the idea that civilization is a purely human invention. It’s the kind of book that makes you step outside and look at everything differently.

[N.R. Tomasheski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful and insightful trip through the world of animal societies. There are discussions of some pretty sad and even abhorrent injustices visited on animal cultures by humans, some inadvertent and some quite intentional; these may be disturbing for some readers.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author. I love author-read audiobooks because we get the cadence and emphasis as the author intended. In this case, we also get Huling's enthusiasm about the topic, which really added to its charm.

As we travel around the world, meeting local experts on various animal cultures, we learn about behaviors, reproductive strategies, migrations, and also how human borders and infrastructure affect--for worse and, sometimes, for better--the ancient routines of those animals.

This isn't intended to be a comprehensive or scholarly treatise. It offers a few stories to remind us that the other lives on our earth have rich and meaningful cultures of which we should be aware.

[Aaron Teper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Distinctly broken up into different sections exploring unique animals “nations”, this book did a great job expanding individual worlds, and showing how full this vast planet truly is. I enjoyed how the novel tried to break are human-centric view of the animal kingdom, which often diminishes the achievements of incredible creatures, and showed the complex societies they form on their own. Each section was interesting in its own right, but I was most drawn to the underground world of the mole rats. Outside of the exploration of the animals themselves, I enjoyed the authors own journey exploring these remote regions of the plant. This book did a good job of engaging the reader in the wanderlust of the author and passion for wildlife.

[Linda Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a hopeful idea that humans will look at the communities of all creatures, birds etc differently. We don't seem to consider that other species behave in ways very similar to us. Humans have such a take all and expendable way of dealing with other living things.
As a sign of how this book is received I would guess most who choose to read it have some sympathy towards our fellow natural neighbors and others that would scoff at the idea and carry on in the way humans have for centuries.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored The Hidden Nations of Animals! Ryan Huling presents a compelling case for looking at animal communities in a new way that considers their interests first and foremost, not as an afterthought to human societies. I was particularly struck by the chapter about bats, where Huling impressively captures his on-the-ground experience observing bats and provides so much fascinating context. I really came to appreciate his delightful narrative voice and his way of getting across lots of information in an enjoyable and easily digestible way. I highly recommend this book, and I hope that Huling has more books up his sleeve.

[Lara Prescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dazzling, wise, and full of surprise, The Hidden Nations of Animals brings us face to face with the extraordinary societies of our fellow creatures. Reading it feels less like learning than remembering something essential we've always known.

[Cheryl]

I guess I've just read, and thought, too much about all this sort of stuff already. There more be unfamiliar details buried in the text, but intro and epilogue don't appeal, illustrations are not captioned, and there is no index via which I could find more new science bits.

July 2026

[William Aicher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit more of a travelogue than I expected. Still, some interesting insights on animal native territories and migrations.