The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations

The author draws on personal field and zoo observations to survey the intelligence, individuality, and social behavior of wild vertebrates, organizing chapters on temperament, communication, problem-solving, learning and training, and the higher and baser passions. Case studies span primates, elephants, bears, ruminants, rodents, birds and reptiles, illustrating play, courage, fear, fighting, nesting, migration, and apparent moral behaviors. Interspersed practical anecdotes illuminate animal cognition and the limits of human interpretation, with a recurring appeal for humane understanding and conservation as civilization threatens wild populations.