The author uses letters, journals, and travel accounts to show the early attitudes toward the uses of indigenous birds and mammals of Texas. Surviving on nature's bounty and remorselessly exterminating her threats--wolves, cougars, and other wily critters--settlers exploited Texas' pristine fecundity. Some species benefited from disturbed environments; others were unable to adjust to human presence and disappeared. By the 1880s concern about the diminishing...

The albatross is currently the most threatened bird group in the world. The authors tell the story of a potental extinction that has been interrupted by an unlikely alliance of governments, conservation groups, and fishermen. The albatross's fate is linked to the fate of two of the highest-value table fish, Bluefin Tuna and Patagonian Toothfish, which are threatened by unregulated commercial harvesting. Commercial fishing techniques are annually killing...