• The Return of the Unicorns
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The Return of the Unicorns

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Documenting one of the rare success stories in the history of wildlife conservation, The Return of the Unicorns distills two decades of intensive fieldwork and research on one of the world's most e...
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  • 23 August 2016
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Beginning in 1984, Eric Dinerstein led a team directly responsible for the recovery of the greater one-horned rhinoceros in the Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal, where the population had once declined to as few as 100 rhinos. The Return of the Unicorns is an account of what it takes to save endangered large mammals. In its pages, Dinerstein outlines the multifaceted recovery program—structured around targeted fieldwork and scientific research, effective protective measures, habitat planning and management, public-awareness campaigns, economic incentives to promote local guardianship, and bold, uncompromising leadership—that brought these extraordinary animals back from the brink of extinction. In an age when scientists must also become politicians, educators, fund-raisers, and activists to safeguard the subjects that they study, Dinerstein's inspiring story offers a successful model for large-mammal conservation that can be applied throughout Asia and across the globe.
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Price: $42.00
Pages: 384
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Series: Biology and Resource Management Series
Publication Date: 23 August 2016
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780231084512
Format: Paperback
BISACs: NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection, NATURE / Endangered Species, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Ecology
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Dinerstein provides a glimmer of hope... with his success story of the conservation of the Indian or greater one-horned rhinoceros.... [He] discusses the implications of this success story for conservation efforts elsewhere, and clearly rejects attempts to capture rare animals and maintain their populations by captive breeding.

Eric Dinerstein is director of WildTech and the Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions Program at RESOLVE. He also leads a team of biologists who help add biodiversity information to Global Forest Watch.

George B. Schaller is vice president of Panthera and has taught as an adjunct associate professor at Rockefeller University, East China Normal University in Shanghai, and Peking University.

Foreword, by George B. Schaller
Preface
Introduction
Part I: Vanishing Mammals, Vanishing Landscapes
1. Vanishing Mammals: The Rise and Fall of the Rhinoceroses
2. Culture, Conservation, and the Demand for Rhinoceros Horn
3. Vanishing Landscapes: The Flood Plain Ecosystem of Chitwan
Part II: Biology of an Endangered Megaherbivore
4. Size and Sexual Dimorphism in Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros
5. The Biology of an Extinction-Prone Species: Facing Demographic, Genetic, and Environmental Threats
6. Life on the Flood Plain: Spacing and Ranging Behavior, Feeding Ecology, and Activity Patterns
7. Male Dominance, Reproductive Success, and the "Incisor Size Hypothesis"
8. Endangered Phenomena: Rhinoceros as Landscape Architects
Part III: The Recovery of Endangered Large Mammal Populations and their Habitats in Asia
9. Does Privately Owned Ecotourism Support Conservation of Charismatic Megafauna?
10. Making Room for Megafauna: Promoting Local Guardianship of Endangered Species and Landscape-scale Conservation
11. The Recovery of Rhinoceros and Other Asian Megafauna Conclusion
Appendix A: Methods
Appendix B: Measurements and other Physical Features of greater one-horned rhinoceros captured in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal
Appendix C: Demographic and Genetic Data
Appendix D: Seasonal Home Range and Daily Movements
Appendix E: A Profile of Rhinoceros Behavior
Appendix F: Reproductive Histories of Adult Female Rhinoceros
References
Index