S. Theodore Baskaran Oxford University Press, 1999 FROM THE DUST JACKET The Dance of the Sarus is a collection of short essays on little known aspects of India's wildlife and natural history. They are the result of Baskaran's wanderings through diverse Indian terrain: from the alpine landscape of Arunachal Pradesh to the scrub jungles of Madurai, from the deserts of Kachch to the wetlands of Manipur. Written in a style that combines the fleeting glimpse with the transcendental vision, the poetic spirit with scientific inquiry, Baskaran's sparkling prose captures the sights and sounds of the Indian wilderness. His cameos introduce us to such varied species as the fiercely monogamous sarus and the purple-rumped sunbird, the lion-tailed macaque and the immaculate white tiger, the mysterious haflong, the common canine. Baskaran's is the voice of the concerned environmentalist. In interviews with experts including legendary ornithologist Salim Ali and celebrated wildlife biologists George Schaller and the younger Ravi Chellam, he discusses conservation issues like captive breeding and ecological fragmentation. Interspersed with pictures, this is a book that will appeal to the specialist and the amateur, naturalists, conservationists, and in fact anyone keenly interested in and concerned about India's abundantly rich but ebbing natural heritage. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction xiii THE BIRDS 1 1. The Dance of the Sarus 3 2. A Haven for Bustards 6 3. One Morning in Ranganathittu 9 4 . An Evening at Lake Nakuru 14 5. Sporting Seasonal Plumage 18 6. The Survivors 21 7. Mauritius: Birds in Trouble 25 8. The Flamingoes of Porbandar 32 9. Private Life of a Purple-rumped Sunbird 35 10. You Came a Long Way, Baby 38 11. The Haflong Phenomenon 41 12. Driven to Extinction 45 13. The Dipper 48 14. Mimic in the Woods 50 15. A Creature of the Rain Forest 53 16. Birds of Adyar Estuary 56 17. An Unusual Congregation 60 18. The Pope of Ornithology 63 19. Saving the Pelican 66 20. The Ibis: Devoted Family Birds 70 21. A Threatened Sanctuary 73 22. The Pleasures of Birdwatching 79 23. Salim Ali: An Interview 83 THE MAMMALS 89 24. The Liontailed Macaques of the Anamalais 91 25. The Black buck of Bannari 96 26. Back From the Oblivion 100 27. The Sangai On the Brink 103 28. Man-Elephant Encounter 106 29. Hoolock: The Ace Acrobat 116 30. The Leaf Monkeys of Tripura 119 31. The White Tigers of India 122 32. Protecting the Wolf 125 33. The Slender Loris: A Primate in Darkness 128 THE HABITATS 133 34. The Men who Planted Trees 135 35. The Rain Forests of Tamilnadu 138 36. A Silent Summer 142 37. The Grass Hills 147 38. This Delightful Country. . . 150 39. Nalsarovar: A Paradigm for Wetland 154 40. The Monpas of Himalayas: In Harmony with Nature 158 41. Grassland as a Habitat 164 42. When the Hills Turn Blue . . . 167 THE ISSUES 43. Hunting in British India 171 44. To Shoot or Not to Shoot173 45. In A Well of Despair 180 46. The Economic Impetus to Conservation: The Kenyan Story 185 47. To Catch a Trout 189 48. Conserving the Tiger: Interview with George Schaller 195 49. The Lions of Gir: Interview with Ravi Chellam 202 50. Noah's Ark: How safe? 209 THE DOMESTIC 213 51. Indigenous Breeds of Cattle in India 215 52. India's Canine Heritage 219 53. The Donkeys of the World 226 Index 233 ***************************************************** ISBN: 0195649664 (hardcover) 9.95 USD ISBN: 0195662563 (paperback) 19.95 USD WHERE TO ORDER: Oxford University Press 2001 Evans Road Cary, NC 27513 Phone: (800)451-7556 Email: orders@oup-usa.org Direct link to item: http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/LifeSciences/VertebrateZoology/Primatology/?view=usa&ci=0195662563#productdetails Posted Date: 12/18/03
URL: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/review/danceof.html
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