SOUNDS OF THE WILD

SOUNDS OF THE WILD JAN PEDERSEN    Book Number: 80321    Product format: Hardback This wonderful book showcases 100 of the worlds wild species beautifully photographed and described with an exciting audio unit on an extension to the books back cover where you can press a button to hear a recording of their calls. Some have just one recording for example the raucous contact call of the red fox but for others there are several and you can listen to the chimpanzees calls of localization movement aggression fear and distance. For each animal bird or sea creature an introductory paragraph evokes a scene in the wild where the species is active for instance a vivid description evokes the Budongo forest in Uganda where a chimp can be heard warning of a concealed rock python. The largest of the big cat family the Tiger has six distinct subspecies including the Siberian and Sumatran tigers which all share physical characteristics such as being able to see six times better than the human eye in darkness. The Tiger is an example of a threatened species partly through habitat destruction but mainly through poaching. Moving on to birds the Australian Magpies sound ranging over four octaves is familiar to many of us from Antipodean films and although similar in appearance it is unrelated to its Old World counterpart. Sounds from sea creatures include the Humpback Whales combination of a rattle and a squeal the Bottlenose Dolphin with its scratchy whistle and the New Zealand Sea Lions snorting bark. Beautifully produced and surely one of the best wildlife books ever. 263pp audio unit references gorgeous colour photography. Published price: 30 Bibliophile price: 11.00,

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