Carol L. Malnor - Champions of Wild Animals

Earth Heroes

To our parents, Robert and Connie Malnor & Elmer and Illa Lattimer,
with gratitude and love.CLM and BRM

For all the animals. ACH

Copyright 2010 Carol and Bruce Malnor

Illustration copyright 2010 Anisa Claire Hovemann

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Malnor, Carol.

Earth heroes : champions of wild animals / by Carol L. and Bruce Malnor ; illustrated by Anisa Claire Hovemann. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: The youth, career, and lasting contributions of some of the worlds greatest naturalists and environmentalists are featured in this series of books on champions of the wilderness, ocean, and wild animals, with this volume focusing on those who saved wild animal species from extinction--Provided by the publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-58469-123-5 (pbk.)

1. Wildlife conservationists--Biography--Juvenile literature. 2. Naturalists--Biography--Juvenile literature. 3. Endangered species--Juvenile literature. I. Malnor, Bruce. II. Hovemann, Anisa Claire, ill. III. Title. IV. Title: Champions of wild animals.

QL83.M315 2010

333.954160922--dc22

[B]

2010016030

Book design and computer production by Patty Arnold, Menagerie Design and Publishing .

Printed on recycled paper

Dawn Publications

12402 Bitney Springs Road

Nevada City, CA 95959

530-274-7775

nature@dawnpub.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Whos Wild About Animals? 4

W illiam T emple H ornaday: Brought Wildlife to Millions 6
18541937

Jay Norwood Ding Darling: A Ducks Best Friend 22
18761962

Rachel Carson: The Scientist Who Wouldnt Be Silent 38
19071964

Roger Tory Peterson: The Worlds Foremost Birder 54
19081996

Ronald RD Lawrence: Friend of the Wolf 70
19212003

Edward O. Wilson: Lord of the Ants 86
1929present

Jane Goodall: Ambassador for Wild Chimps 102
1934present

The Douglas-Hamilton Family: A Family Saving Elephants 120
1933, 1942, 1970present

Conclusion: Become a Hero! 136

About the Authors and Illustrator

Sources and Credits

Index

Whos WILD About Animals?

W hat are your favorite wild animals? Lions and tigers and bears? With over one million species in the Animal Kingdom, there are lots to choose from. They include the tiniest ants, less than a sixteenth of an inch long, and the largest land animals in the world, African elephants twenty-five feet long. Wild animals are defined as animals that live in their natural settings. They are found all over the world, from cold polar regions to steamy tropical jungles.

This book introduces you to eight peopleEarth Heroes who discovered their favorite wild animals and dedicated their lives to studying and protecting them. Bison and birds, chimps and seals, wolves and elephants all owe their survival to the people described in these pages. And the personal life of each hero is as unique as the animals theyve protected.

William Hornaday hunted animals for many years, but was so saddened by the senseless destruction of the American bison that he stopped hunting and saved it from extinction.

Rachel Carson was severely criticized in newspapers and on television for her book warning about the dangers of DDT. But by daring to speak up, countless species of animals were saved.

Birds fascinated Roger Tory Peterson and Ding Darling . Both of these men used their creativity and artistic talents to spark others interest in birds too.

Ron Lawrence loved sea creatures as a boy and discovered the love of wolves in Canada as an adult. His stories corrected myths about wolves.

A childhood accident forced Ed Wilson to focus on the little creatures of the world. This focus helped him make a major scientific discovery about ants when he was only thirteen.

Jane Goodalls first toy was a stuffed chimpanzee, and she grew up to discover the secrets of the chimps world.

Virgo, a full-grown African elephant, greeted Saba Douglas-Hamilton when she was just three months old. Saba joined her family in their lifes work of saving elephants.

Ron Lawrence reminds us, To know animals, one must know the land. Wild animals depend on the land. The health of the habitat determines their health. The health of wildlife greatly influences the health of the habitat itself. Everything is interconnected. Its like two sides of the same coin. One side shows us how the dying habitat in Yellowstone National Park was revived once wolves were reintroduced. And the other side of the coin shows us how the creation of wildlife refuges allowed ducks to thrive.

John Muir , of Champions of the Wilderness , wrote, When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe. This is true for the multitude of interconnections between the wilderness and wildlife. And its also true for the Earth Heroes series: Champions of the Wilderness , Champions of the Ocean , and Champions of Wild Animals . Each book relates to the other two. Here are a few of the connections among the champions:

O Teddy Roosevelt and Margaret Murie helped preserve American wilderness as national parks for both people and animals. Eugenie Clark helped preserve a coral reef in Egypt as a national park so it could remain a safe haven for a thousand species of fish.

O Jane Goodall became a crusader for wilderness preservation when she realized how much rain forest had been cut down in Tanzania. Wangari Maathai organized the Green Belt movement to plant trees in Kenya.

O Aldo Leopold taught ecology in the 1940s, and Ed Wilson teaches ecology today.

The interconnections of these people are like the web of life itself. Sylvia Earle sums it up: We are all together in this single living ecosystem called planet earth. How fortunate we are to have so many heroes working to save the wilderness, oceans, and animals. David Suzuki states:

We are the earth, through the plants and animals that nourish us.
We are the rains and the oceans that flow through our veins.
We are human animals, related to all life...

As you read the remarkable stories in Earth Heroes you become an important part of the connection too.

William Temple
Hornaday

18541937

The Man Who Brought
Wildlife to Millions

No civilized nation should allow its wild animals to be exterminated.

T wenty-year-old William peered out from his hiding place among the mangrove roots. He was anxiously waiting for Ole Boss, an enormous crocodile he had discovered along a Florida creek. Ole Boss had eluded him for two days, but William was determined to add this unique specimen to his wildlife collection.