Return of the Unicorns [Hardcover]

Eric Dinerstein (Author), George B. Schaller (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2003 | Series: Biology and Resource Management Series

Since 1984, Eric Dinerstein has led the 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. 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 in order to safeguard the subjects they study, Dinerstein's inspiring story offers a successful model for large-mammal conservation applicable throughout Asia and across the globe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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.

(Donald R. Prothero Quarterly Review of Biology )

This book offers much to anyone interested in practical, how-to conservation, far-away landscapes, large and exotic-sounding mammals, biodiversity, planning,and tropical ecology.... a beautifully candid account... this is the book that conservation pragmatists and cynics should read to discover why optimism about the conservation of large mammals in human-dominated landscapes is not misplaced.

(Joel Berger Conservation Biology )

an excellent overview of many aspects of the biology and conservation of greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal.

(Samuel Zschokke Basic and Applied Ecology )

the book is a landmark contribution on the ecology and conservation of large mammals.

(Mark S. Boyce Ecology )

Review

Eric Dinerstein has dedicated himself to the rhinos of Chitwan; he is the best friend they have ever had.... This elegant case history of Chitwan shows that one individual can have a major conservation impact if he or she makes a tenacious commitment. Results such as these provide a 'kernel of hope,' to quote the author.... The rhinos of Chitwan are unaware of their precarious existence. Their fate depends wholly on us, on our commitment to protect them forever.

(from the foreword by George B. Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (March 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231084501
• ISBN-13: 978-0231084505
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,222,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unicorn rhinoceros, April 14, 2011

By 

NathanH83 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return of the Unicorns (Hardcover)

It's funny that evolutionary scientists make fun of the Bible for mentioning unicorns. When you explain that the Bible is referring to the rhinoceros they scoff and say, "How could a unicorn be confused with a rhinoceros?"

And yet here is an evolutionary scientist named Eric Deinerstein, who refers to the one-horned rhinoceros as a unicorn.