Staff Pick: 100 Heartbeats

100 Heartbeats: the race to save Earth's most endangered species
By: Jeff Corwin

The "100 heartbeats" of the title refers to just how scarce these animals are: each species with 100 or fewer living individuals. Animal Planet star Jeff Corwin looks at the critically endangered and examines what is being done to save them, beginning with a chapter that discusses the broad causes of extinction—global warming and the loss of habitat—and then examines specific threats to endangered species while looking at animals most at risk from these threats. The cats, both big and small, and the giant panda are poster species for habitat loss; Hawaiian honeycreepers and Puerto Rican crested toads suffer from the depredations of introduced alien species; California condors and Chinese alligators contend with pollution of their limited habitat; and illegal hunting and capture for the pet trade doom elephants and many primates. Corwin's conversational, upbeat style makes readers care about the species in peril.
Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.