New Animal Discoveries

Mary St. Onge-Davidson is president of the Essential English Centre in
Ottawa.

Dr. Jane Goodall has written an encouraging foreword to this wonderful
book, which describes new animals that have been discovered over the
past 15 years. With the ongoing destruction of forests and other natural
habitats around the world, these and other species are facing threats of
extinction. Author Ronald Orenstein is a zoologist and lawyer (his book
Songbirds was shortlisted for the 1998 Science in Society Award by the
Canadian Science Writers Association), who is trying to find, save, and
protect wildlife.

This well-documented and well-designed book is filled with facts and
discovery. All of its stories document Dr. Orenstein’s searches for,
and discovery of, new animal species, some known to exist but never
identified. These discoveries include a new mouse lemur found in
Madagascar, a multi-sized barking deer, a ground-dwelling tree-kangaroo,
and a beaked whale. Colorful photos and brief maps quickly familiarize
the reader with both the animal and its habitat. Throughout the book,
Orenstein stresses the importance of discovering the millions of animals
that may exist, the difficult task and obstacles in doing so, and the
race against time which zoologists face to accomplish this enormous
task. Highly recommended.