# |
Species
[range] |
Photo/art [see credits]
all photos taken in wild unless stated |
Reason for choice |
DR seen? |
1 |
Tiger
Panthera tigris
[Asia] |
|
The
most spectacular terrestrial predator on earth, tigers are the stuff of
nightmares & then dreams. As a kid I devoured Corbett's stories;
now tigers are seriously endangered, with perhaps only 2000 left.
Seeing a wild tiger is the epitome of wildlife adventure. So beautiful,
so deadly — and to get photos . . . priceless. |
Yes |
2 |
Gorilla
Gorilla gorilla
[c. Africa] |
|
Nothing
says the African rainforest like the powerful yet gentle Gorilla. The
experience of observing a wild gorilla ranks among the best things life
has to offer. My chest-thumping encounter with a lowland Gorilla in
Gabon was heart-racing; spending an hour with mountain Gorillas in
Uganda was awe-inspiring. |
Yes |
3 |
Snow Leopard
Panthera uncia
[c. Asia] |
|
It
seems next to impossible to see a Snow Leopard, let alone take a photo
like Vladimir Dinets did in a snowstorm high in the mountains of Tibet!
Stunning but almost invisible in its beautiful coat, even researchers
go years without seeing one. I never will... but one can dream. |
No |
4 |
Orangutan
Pongo pygmaeus
[Borneo & Sumatra] |
|
The
great red ape of wild lowland forest in Borneo & Sumatra lives
mostly in the canopy in troops with huge impressive males (who make
incredible sounds) and engaging youngsters; they almost must be seen to
be believed. Orangutans (pronounced oh-ron-oo-tan, not the way you have
heard it) are high points of any visit. |
Yes |
5 |
Giant Panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
[China] |
|
Another
"almost impossible" beast in the remote mountains of interior China,
its image has been adopted as a symbol for the world's threatened
wildlife. Shy, elusive, and living on bamboo, only recently has
eco-tourism developed a method of (maybe) seeing one [see Jon Hall's web page for Qingling Mts.]. |
No |
6 |
Jaguar
Panthera onca
[Mexico to s. South America] |
|
The
great top predator of Neotropical forests, Jaguars are incredibly
elusive. So far I've seen tracks, fresh scat, a recently hit carcass on
a Venezuelan road, and heard a male calling nearby. I've been to the
spot on the Rio Cristalino in Brazil where Peter Post took this great
shot in Aug 1998 (left). But oh! my lucky day is still to come.
|
No |
7 |
Polar Bear
Ursus maritimus
[Arctic] |
|
King
of its icy realm, the Polar Bear in the undisputed top predator of
remote Arctic shores. They live among the ice in summer, feeding on
seals, until drawn to shore in autumn. This photo of a sleeping bear at
Churchill is by Greg Lasley, where it is regular in fall, but global
warming in causing considerable declines.
|
No |
8 |
any Orca
[Killer Whale]
Orca orcinus +
[oceans] |
|
From
pole to the Equator, this marine predator may have the widest range of
any non-human mammal on earth. It is everywhere incredibly impressive –
huge, fast, beautiful & deadly. Some migratory pods feed on large
baleen whales, but others feast on salmon or seals; all have impressive
social systems. More than one species may be involved. |
Yes |
9 |
Black Rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
[east & south Africa] |
|
This unpredictable and dangerous vegetarian is now quite rare and lcoal. Both it and White Rhino Ceratotherium simum
were nearly poached to extinction, but White is a placid grazer while
this is an aggressive browser. White has been reintroduced widely but
Black Rhino exists only in a few pockets and is a great treat to see. |
Yes |
10 |
Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
[oceans] |
|
The
largest mammal ever to have lived, this pelagic giant was rapidly going
extinct a few decades ago before a whaling ban finally was instituted.
It is now coming back in replenished numbers and is often regular in
late summer in Monterey Bay. It is always an extremely impressive sight. |
Yes |
|
Links to all of the "top 50":
RESOURCES & CREDITS
|
FURTHER READING:
This is not an exhaustive bibliography but rather a personal choices of
books, mostly in the popular literature genre, but all fact-based and
well-written:
* For Tiger: Jim Corbett's (1946) Man-Eaters of Kumaon
is the author's adventures in tracking down man-eating tigers (and a
few leopards) in the 1920s & 1930s. Corbett was a hunter turning
conservationist, and his intimate knowledge of the Indian forest shines
through t adventure stories. His appreciation for tigers is immense;
today, Corbett National Park – one of the best tiger reserves – is
named for him. I also absolutely rave about Richard Ives' (1996) Of Tigers and Men: Entering the Age of Extinction,
the story of his own experiences in trying to see tigers while running
into the famous and infamous in the tiger field. Birders will
especially enjoy his portrait of a recluse birder he meets on Sumatra;
just a fascinating book from beginning to end. For life history
material, Valmik Thapar's various books are great; I particularly
enjoyed the text and photos in Tiger: Portrait of a Predator (1999). The frontispiece photo is the equivalent of a Robert Bateman painting on film. Finally, Peter Matthiessen's (2000) Tigers in the Snow combines rich text with Maurice Hornocker's stunning photos of Siberian tigers.
* For Gorilla: Obviously, Dian Fossey's (1983) Gorillas in the Mist brought the plight of the Mountain Gorillas to the world, but it was George Schaller's research in The Mountain Gorilla: Behavior and Ecology (1963) and The Year of the Gorilla (1964) the did the foundational work.
* For Snow Leopard: Peter Matthiessen's (1978) The Snow Leopard
was a fascinating metaphysical musing while in a prolonged search
(unsuccessful) to see a Snow Leopard, with much of interest about the
habitat. I most enjoyed the research work in remote Nepal , along with
the many problems that were entailed, described in Darla Hillard's
(1989) Vanishing Tracks: Four Years among the Snow Leopards of Nepal.
* For Orangutan:
there are several books on research or ruminations about Orangutans
relationship to Man, but I most enjoyed John MacKinnon's (1974) In Search of the Red Ape on his field observations in Borneo.
* For Giant Panda: George B. Schaller's (1993) The Last Panda is the classic.
* For Jaguar:
True appreciation for this great cat is achieved in reading about man's
struggle to establish the world's first Jaguar preserve (in Belize) in
Alan Rabinowitz' (1986) Jaguar.
* For Polar Bear: I have read rather little on this subject, but Norbert Rosing's (1994) photo book The World of the Polar Bear has some great shots, and gives a good introduction to the 'scene' at Churchill in the fall.
* For Orca:
I've been tangentially involved (i.e., contributed photos) to the
growing Orca photo catalog project by Nancy Black, Richard Ternullo and
others, so I've mostly been interested in research papers. Some of
these are cited at the bottom of my Monterey Bay rare cetaceans page. Some well researched popular accounts of natural history are Gerard Gormley's (1990) Orcas of the Gulf [without photos; about Gulf of Maine population] and Peter Knudtson's (1996) Orca: Vision of the Killer Whale [with many photos; about Puget Sound population].
* For Black Rhino:
very entertaining first person stories about research on Black Rhino in
the Namibian deserts is in Carol Cunningham & Joel Berger's (1997) Horn of Darkness: Rhinos on the Edge.
They showed, despite many obstacles, that the controversial
'environmental' practice of dehorning rhinos (to save them from
poachers) didn't work for ecological reasons (mother rhinos need horns
to protect young from hyenas).
* For Blue Whale: I haven't read anything wonderful yetabout Blue Whales, although I do like the art in Richard Ellis's (1980) The Book of Whales.
CREDITS:
All the photographs are copyrighted by the photographer (as detailed
below) and are used with permission; all rights are reserved to the
photographer
* Vladimir Dinets photographed Snow Leopard (Tibet)
* W. Ed Harper photographed Black Rhinoceros (Tanzania)
* Jon Hornbuckle photographed Mountain Gorilla (Rwanda)
* Mr. Zhang, Jon Hall's guide in Qingling Mts., photographed Giant Panda (China)
* Greg W. Lasley photographed Polar Bear (Churchill, Hudson Bay, Canada)
* Peter W. Post photographed Jaguar (Brazil)
* Don Roberson photographed Tiger (India), Orangutan (Sumatra,
Indonesia), Orca & Blue Whale (both Monterey Bay, California,
U.S.A.)
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TOP
Page created 1-6 June 2002, updated 20 Aug 2002, revised 10 Nov 2007 |
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