Best biology of cats, lions & tigers books according to redditors
We found 41 Reddit comments discussing the best biology of cats, lions & tigers books. We ranked the 7 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
There’s a book about this, it seemed really interesting because the tiger stalked him for days I’m pretty sure.
Edit: found it https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (Vintage Departures) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307389049/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Y5U8Ab81M6ET2
If you haven't heard of or what is bellow I highly suggest it. It is an amazing read.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Borzoi/dp/0307268934
In it the author describes how tigers will kill Russian Brown Bears, a similarly sized cousin of the grizzly, simply because they are competition. And, will hunt down humans that have shot at them, days, or even months after the incident.
Moral of the story, don't fuck with Tigers.
Penguins attack people when they're hungry?
edit: Tiger attacks are indeed rare, but they occur much more frequently with the Bengal subspecies. There are a few theories regarding the cause of this, most focus on the idea that their territory is either not particularly suitable to the hunting of normal prey species (the Sundarbans) or that humans are encroaching on their territory. Amur tiger attacks on humans are very rare, and it is almost always found that the tiger responsible for human deaths was injured in such a way that it was incapable of hunting it's natural prey species. source: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
Markov wasn't the only person this tiger ate. There's an excellent book about this incident, called The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. It's a fascinating read, and is full of information about the plight of tigers and other wildlife in the Russian Far East as well as human struggle for survival. Highly recommended.
Read John Vaillant's book about a tiger tracking a man for revenge. Scary af.
In a similar vein, there is a great (short ~200 pages) book called The Tiger that tell the story of a Siberian Tiger in Russian that starts killing people, and how a team had to hunt it down.
Seeing this guy try to fend off a tiger with sticks ... I imagine his pants needed changing.
I think this is what Mi_lotsa_a's meant. Pretty good book.
You want to experiment with non-fiction you say?
Hmmm...you like history? I'd recommend books that are about smaller aspects of history.
The Mathews Men tells the story of the Merchant Marine during World War II. The men who defended the merchant vessels that carried supplies to the Allies, and the cost so many paid.
Patton and His Third Army gives a detailed account of Patton's efforts in World War II, and it's written by a man who served under him.
Or maybe you want to learn about animals?
Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone gives detailed accounts of human-and-animal interaction in one of our most storied national parks.
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival goes into rich detail about a lushly forested region in Far East Russia and the people and animals who live there.
The Tiger by John Vaillant
Man-eating tiger stalks village in Russia. True story and great info on the region and the animal. Excellent!
I finally started reading "The Tiger" by John Valliant.
Awhile ago someone posted a TIL and linked to an excerpt of the book, and it was riveting. So I bit the bullet and bought the book, but hadn't found the time to actually start it until a few days ago.
Thus far it has been phenomenal... I can't put it down. And it's added a few reasons to the list of Why you shouldn't fuck with tigers.
https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049
On of the best books I've ever read. It describes the utter amazement of the wildness and intelligence of the tigers (what I'd imagine most of humanity feeling towards large predators throughout time) and additionally fitting for the time, how the Russian mindset was going through the nineties.. I'd suggest reading Bill Browder's book right after this one for the follow up....
It's also a masterclass in writing about a flawed person ala Krakauer in the portrayal of the main character.
It crossed the country from the Black Hills of South Dakota and was struck and killed by a car in Connecticut. Good book about it - Heart of a Lion -Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cat’s Walk Across America https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620405520/
They still do in certain parts of the world. Check out The Tiger. It's one of my favorite books. It's about game wardens in Siberia and Amur tigers, and a great history of the whole area.
There is a whole book about one tiger doing this called Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
https://www.amazon.ca/Tiger-True-Story-Vengeance-Survival/dp/0307397157
Most tiger-range countries have fairly serious penalties if you're caught and convicted for poaching, this isn't something special to China and is quite frankly a minimum.
Secondly while there are likely some Siberian Tiger visitors from Russia and perhaps some that have settled on the Chinese side of the border since the peak of poaching there's no reputable conservation organization that would back up your '3 times more Siberian tigers' claim. Quite frankly it's bullshit, the same bullshit that has had the Chinese government pretending that they didn't wipe out their endemic tiger sub-species, the South Chinese tiger, in the wild.
Thirdly the Russians ( with considerable overseas help ) haven't simply done their best they have done the best in protecting their tigers over the past ~40 years. The fall of the Soviet Union left around 500 tigers in the Russian Far East, you can safely say there's around 400 today a 20% decline. No other tiger range country has managed to slow down the decline that much over the past 40 years. Furthermore the Siberian Tiger project and other efforts in Russia have lead the way on accurately counting and studying their wild tigers through radio-telemetry, camera traps and documenting pugmarks and they're also leading the way in terms of reintroducing tigers.
Fourth, Traditional Chinese Medicine is the primary threat to tigers, even today and even in relatively well protected areas poaching is a huge driver of tiger mortality. The Chinese government has failed to really crack down on this and has made the situation worse with 'tiger farms' .
The people who actually cared back in the 1990s were north of the border, same with the 2000s, if by the end of the 2010s China's finally turning over a new leaf then I am thrilled to hear it but I will not partake in their delusions of grandeur and good behavior when the truth of their record is as bad as it is.
PS there are a reasonable amount of cat-a-holics in the Russian Far East, far more then you'd expect for such an economically stressed region.
PPS If you want a full account of where the Chinese Government was on tiger conservation as of 2015 read Blood of the Tiger
I have a couple of books about big game hunters on my list, but I have not read either of these yet:
As for explorers, the best non-fiction I've read about explorers are The Lost City of Z by David Grann, about Percy Fawcett's attempts to find Eldorado in the jungles of South America, and Endurance by Alfred Lansing, about Shackleton's survival after his doomed polar expedition.
It occurs to me that none of these are set in Africa. Hope that's not a deal-breaker.
I'll also recommend my favorite memoir of all time, Papa Hemingway by A.E. Hotchner. It's about his time spent traveling with Ernest Hemingway, who was something of a hunter and adventurer, and recounts a lot of very exciting trips to exotic locales in which manly deeds were done.
Loved learned more about cougars in this book: Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cat's Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01AXSGPOS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491875475&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=heart+of+a+lion
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival seems like a good book to submit to my book group for consideration. Thanks for the comment.
try "the tiger" by john vaillant
but, beware, it's a true story about man eating tiger in russia's far east.
http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Story-Vengeance-Survival-Borzoi/dp/0307268934
Except for this one
This book is a great read... well researched an highly entertaining...
I recommend The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant.
It's the true story of a man-eating tiger (which some of the locals believed was out for revenge against the hunter that tried to kill it) and the hunt to kill it. The book also touches on humans evolving in a world of tigers and bit of Russian history. There are lots of really good side stories to keep you interested, too.
There an amazing book based on a true story of a man eating Siberan tiger's vengeful behavior in Russia by John Vaillant. https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049
This article is highlighting this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049
Totally legit, a very enjoyable read.
The best possible outcome is to never see a tiger in the wild. You'll live longer that way.
link for the lazy reader
Naturally, the ebook is MORE than the paperback. WHY WHY WHY?
This one, I'd assume? Looks interesting, thanks!
This is an amazing book on tigers.
Tigers are far more badass IMO. Check out this book; https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518460048&sr=1-4&keywords=tiger
I've been reading a book about this very subject. It's about a tiger that killed a couple people in a remote village in Russia. It's a fascinating book.
The basic answer to your question is that the people who hunt animals like this are poor. Extremely poor. I'm talking like, they forage in the forest for basic food level poor. If they manage to kill a tiger and sell it, they'll be set for years. Hunger and desperation can make people do lots of undesirable things.
If you wonder how bad ass this is I'd suggest reading the great book (imaginatively named): The Tiger - great read about the beyond bad ass Siberian Tigers. http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-True-Story-Vengeance-Survival/dp/0307268934
Incredible book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Borzoi/dp/0307268934
Tigers will also hunt people that disturb a tigers cache of meat. They have an incredible sense of smell and tracking abilities. Might be the most lethal animals on the planet.
Edit: pound for pound.