100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth's Most Endangered Species by Jeff Corwin

From Barnes & Noble

He pets muddy elephants, hugs baby bears, and glad-hands lizards: Animal Planet host Jeff Corwin lives as television's ambassador/advocate for other species. In 100 Heartbeats, this Emmy Award–winning conservationist once again takes his show on the road, journeying to regions where the negative effects of climate change are already being felt. Even a quick browse of the book's 16-page color photo insert shows that the animals endangered by global warming live far from the melting polar icecaps so frequently featured in the news. Corwin emphasizes that tigers, alligators, monkeys, and other wild animals we all love could be only a few heartbeats from extinction. This 300-plus-page information trove is a boon for animal lovers and environmentalists.

From the Publisher

It’s no secret that our planet—and the delicate web of ecosystems that comprise it—is in crisis. Environmental threats such as climate change, pollution, habitat loss, and land degradation threaten the survival of thousands of plant and animal species each day. In 100 Heartbeats, conservationist and television host Jeff Corwin provides an urgent, palpable portrait of the wildlife that is suffering in silence and teetering on the brink of extinction. From the forests slipping away beneath the stealthy paws of the Florida panther, to the giant panda’s plight to climb ever higher in the mountains of China in search of sustenance, to the brutal poaching tactics that have devastated Africa’s rhinoceros and elephant populations, Corwin takes readers on a global tour to witness firsthand the critical state of our natural world. Along the way, he shares inspiring stories of battles being waged and won in defense of the earth’s most threatened creatures by the conservationists on the front lines. These stories of hope and progress underscore an important message: Our own survival, as well as that of the world’s wildlife, is in our hands. The race to save the planet’s most endangered wildlife is under way. Every heartbeat matters.

Publishers Weekly

Biologist, Emmy Award-winning producer and TV host Corwin discusses polar and panda bears, Florida panthers and Bengal tigers, and other creatures in this valuable, far-reaching look at endangered species and global efforts to save them (published in conjunction with an MSNBC documentary). He begins with recollections of a trip to "the ice-locked village of Kaktovik, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle," where Corwin joins scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey studying polar bears, the first animals listed as endangered "due to climate change and the resulting shrinking of sea ice." Determined but far from didactic, Corwin hops the globe discussing a range of land and sea animals in immediate danger, but also the people who live among them and work for their preservation. He also highlights success stories: the California condor, for example, "teetered precariously at an estimated 22 birds in 1987," but intensive captive-breeding efforts have helped bring the population to more than 300. Proving that smart, concerted conservation can and does work, Corwin manages to dull the hopelessness and build a strong case for continuing efforts now and in the future. 16 pages of color photos.
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Kirkus Reviews

Companion volume to an upcoming MSNBC documentary on the plight of the nearly 17,000 animal species now threatened with extinction. Biologist, conservationist and Animal Planet star Corwin recounts his heartwarming experiences travelling the globe to film rare animals and their devoted human caretakers. The author writes that more than 3,200 species are considered to be critically endangered-some with fewer than 100 individuals-and he estimates that "if the rate of extinction isn't slowed, by the end of the century, more than half the animal species alive today will be lost forever." Travelling to Alaska, Corwin joined scientists who track polar bears across melting icecaps, marking and tagging them. In Africa, he observed the Mediterranean monk seal, now estimated to number fewer than 400. The author's journey to India provided him with the opportunity to watch a 700-pound Bengal tiger hunt deer at Ranthambore National Park. Fortunately, writes Corwin, many animals are being brought back from the brink. In Indonesia, he witnessed an orangutan-rescued as an infant after his mother was killed-released back into the wild after years of training him to identify hundreds of edible plants and schooling him in "the rules of territoriality, which are different for males and females." Here the author is quick to note that "with creatures this complex, rehabilitation requires a staggering investment of time and money." Corwin experienced one of his most poignant moments in Hawaii, when he saw the puaiohi thrush, one of only 15 individuals left in the species. Although at first sight it looked ordinary, "it . . . transformed into the most vivid bird I'd ever seen. Every little feather, every twitchof its head seemed as vital an expression of life force as I'd ever witnessed."Corwin advances the important message that every heartbeat matters. Author tour to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, San Diego, Washington, D.C.

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