Quammen: Monster of God

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David Quammen, Monster of God : The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind. New York : W.W. Norton, 2003. 513 pages; maps; includes bibliographic references and index.

David Quammen has given us an in-depth report on a great struggle in human history. What do humans do when they find themselves becoming prey and how do we learn to live with those animals who, like us, find themselves at the top of the food chain?

By focusing on four top predators, visiting their home territory, and interviewing local scientists, hunters and others about human contact with those predators, the author reminds us of things we may have forgotten. What it is like to live in a place where we fear being attacked, injured, and possible eaten by the animals that live around us. How have people managed to live in balance with those animals? How can we insure their survival as more and more of their territory is destroyed by our need for control?

Asiatic lions that manage to survive in a tiny area of Western India, salt-water crocodiles in Australia, brown bears in Romania, and the Amur tiger in the wilds of Eastern Russia are featured in a book that blends the history, biology, politics and culture of human-big predator interaction.

-- Notes by GG