Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation

Wild cattle have always been one of my favorite animals; they are majestic, powerful, and inspiring yet, sadly, almost all of them are threatened with extinction. For being such large and charismatic animals, especially ones with so many domesticated descendants, we really know so little about them. It makes me very sad that they have received so little conservation attention and I pray that this book helps change that. If you feel the same way about cattle that I do, then you should buy this amazing book! It really is a must buy for any wild cattle enthusiast. It is full of information that I haven't seen anywhere else online. I was especially excited to get some great information about the Aurochs, European Bison, and the very mysterious kouprey. The book also has plenty of neat photos and drawings as well. It definitely makes me want to go out and try to see some of these animals in the wild!

A great book hopefully it will turn these mammals from becoming rarer and rarer , as people , governments and policy makers are aware of their plight and help save these most treasured mammals from being used as commodities, food , sports ,trophies , medicines and habitat loss that are all driving then to extinction as a result.

excellent book!!!

This is an extremely well-written, welcome and timely book. I mostly appreciated the scientific rigor and the huge amount of unpublished and novel information on this group of species. I strongly recommend this book to researchers, professors and teachers, students in wildlife biology, as well as any other people interested on wild animals. One of the main values of the book is that it is written in a way that make it understandable and useful to every people, from professionals to amateurs. The book is extremely complete, not only because it covers wild cattle ecology and behaviours, but also because it focuses on more general aspects linked to the bovid biology, physiology, evolution and conservation. Moreover, the monographs of every species is very accurate and, in many case, the specialist on the single species have added unpublished information that are of extreme utility for readers. Undoubtedly, this is a book that should be present in the library of every wildlife professional, research centres and institutes.

The book's structure consists in three large sections: in Part I is described the evolution of this group of species, their role in the ecosystem and the domestication process that brought us all the cattle breeds we know today; in Part II are discussed the physiology and anatomy of different systems peculiars of wild and domestic cattle; in Part III are treated all the recognize wild cattle species with comprehensive accounts; finally in Part IV are described different case studies on conservation and management in different regions across the world. Currently this book represents the only comprehensive work on these specie. One thing I do not like, the distribution maps are separated from the species accounts and this makes more difficult to find them. Overall an excellent volume!

Beautiful book with much information up to date about all the wild cattle. There are also beautiful illustrations for each species in their habitats. Besides the chapters on different cases study from bison to African buffalo, the book presents very detailed accounts for the 13 species of Bovini. Each of these chapters is opened by a nice black and white drawing followed by many paragraphs that treat different topics here listed: Names, Taxonomy, Subspecies and distribution, Descriptive notes, Habitat, Movement and home range, Activity patterns, Feeding ecology, Reproduction and growth, Behaviour, Parasites and diseases, Status in the wild and Status in captivity. The book is the result of almost four years of work with the collaboration of more than 70 international experts. Recommended for everyone interested in the ecology and conservation of large mammals.

This is an outstanding book that should be recommended both for scientific purposes and for those who are passionate by wild animals. It covers the most important ecological, evolutionary and conservation aspects of an important group of animals - the wild cattle.

When for the first time I saw this book I was surprised about the huge amount of data regarding all the wild cattle species. This work can be considered the first and most complete reference book on the ecology, conservation and management of wild cattle. For the first time are presented new information on current conservation status for each of the 13 species treated. I hope that through this volume these animals may have much more consideration than in the past and that this work can be an useful tool for the conservation of these amazing mammals. Luca