The Wolves of Isle Royale

by L. David Mech

Mech's landmark study of wolves and moose on Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior. The author lived among them during the three-years of his research. Isle Royale is an isolated wilderness ecosystem which is perfect for scientific study. Dr. L. David Mech is the best-known and most highly regarded wolf researcher in the world. He works with the Biological Services Division, U.S. Geological Survey, and is also the author of several other books on wolves. He has studied wolves and their prey full-time since 1958, except for a four-year period when he studied radio-tracking. During this record-long career as a wolf biologist, he has published numerous books and articles; this book was originally published by the National Park Service in 1966. "Mech is the foremost expert on wolves in this country, possibly in the world, hands down." - Smithsonian magazine

Genres: Wolves, Nonfiction, Natural History

228 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Lucyan David "Dave" Mech is an internationally recognized wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (since 1970), and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota, Canada, Italy, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and on Isle Royale.

Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and sits on its Board of Directors as Vice Chair. The project to create the facility, which he started in 1985, was a natural outgrowth of his wolf research as well as his ambition to educate people about the nature of wolves that they may come to respect the creature through understanding.

He has published ten books and numerous articles about wolves and other wildlife, the most famous of these being his books The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species and Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting - this is a research book, so if you're looking for light reading or more straightforward, summary type information, not for you. But this is an area of interest of mine as well as along the lines of what I once thought I'd do in my professional life, so I found it very interesting and I'll be referring back to it in the future.