Great Jones - Shop now
Buy used:
$50.00
$5.83 delivery Thursday, April 17. Details
Or fastest delivery April 11 - 14. Details
Used: Like New | Details
Sold by Doc O'Connor
Condition: Used: Like New
Comment: Hardback. 4to. (2010). Fine in Fine dust jacket. SIGNED by editor (Sharon Negri) on front free endpaper. No addtional names or marks. First Printing.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Cougar: Ecology and Conservation Hardcover – December 15, 2009

by Maurice Hornocker (Editor), Sharon Negri (Editor), Alan Rabinowitz (Foreword)
4.5 out of 5 stars 35 ratings


The cougar is one of the most beautiful, enigmatic, and majestic animals in the Americas. Eliciting reverence for its grace and independent nature, it also triggers fear when it comes into contact with people, pets, and livestock or competes for hunters’ game. Mystery, myth, and misunderstanding surround this remarkable creature.

The cougar’s range once extended from northern Canada to the tip of South America, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic, making it the most widespread animal in the western hemisphere. But overhunting and loss of habitat vastly reduced cougar numbers by the early twentieth century across much of its historical range, and today the cougar faces numerous threats as burgeoning human development encroaches on its remaining habitat.

When Maurice Hornocker began the first long-term study of cougars in the Idaho wilderness in 1964, little was known about this large cat. Its secretive nature and rarity in the landscape made it difficult to study. But his groundbreaking research yielded major insights and was the prelude to further research on this controversial species.

The capstone to Hornocker’s long career studying big cats, Cougar is a powerful and practical resource for scientists, conservationists, and anyone with an interest in large carnivores.  He and conservationist Sharon Negri bring together the diverse perspectives of twenty-two distinguished scientists to provide the fullest account of the cougar’s ecology, behavior, and genetics, its role as a top predator, and its conservation needs. This compilation of recent findings, stunning photographs, and firsthand accounts of field research unravels the mysteries of this magnificent animal and emphasizes its importance in healthy ecosystem processes and in our lives.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    306 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Chicago Press
  4. Publication date
    December 15, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    11.28 x 8.74 x 1.14 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0226353443
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0226353449
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Cougar is a mighty compendium by twenty-two cougar authorities who share considerable first-hand experience in the field. A very important contribution, this book will surely takes its place as the definitive work on this fascinating, beautiful, and ever elusive animal.”—Peter Matthiessen

― Peter Matthiessen

“No one is more qualified than Dr. Maurice Hornocker to produce the world’s most complete book on cougar ecology and management. Ranchers, wildlife managers, citizen advocates and animal lovers will all enjoy this magical tour through the mysterious world of the cougar.”—Jim Williams Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife Program Manager and current Vice President of the Wild Felid Research and Management Association

― Jim Williams

“Cougar is an encyclopedic tribute to the resilience of the American lion and the scientists who devote their careers to understanding it. Written by a blue-ribbon lineup of cougar experts, this is the most exhaustive and accessible overview of the species ever produced—it goes from showing how cougars eke out an existence in the remote Southern Andes to revealing the challenges they face negotiating superhighways in urban California and Florida. Suffering intense persecution across much of Latin America yet recovering and recolonizing former range in the United States, the adaptable cougar is a model for shaping a human future that includes large cats. Cougar is both timely warning and guidebook for what it will take to realize that vision. It will be a long time before there is anything more complete on the bookshelves.”— Luke Hunter, Executive Director, Panthera

― Luke Hunter

About the Author

Maurice Hornocker is director of the Selway Institute.

Sharon Negri is the director and founder of WildFutures.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; 1st edition (December 15, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 306 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226353443
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226353449
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11.28 x 8.74 x 1.14 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
35 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book provides very good information, with one review noting it's a collection of knowledge from the 20 best informed cougar researchers. They appreciate its readability, with one customer mentioning that the chapters are accessible to most interested parties.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

14 customers mention "Information quality"12 positive2 negative

Customers praise the book's information quality, with one customer noting it is a collection of knowledge from the 20 best informed cougar researchers.

"...the fulcrum fully in support of cougars being present, fulfilling an ecological function and done so with respect for one of the few large..." Read more

"Dr Hornocker does a great job pulling together all the information available on cougar ecology including historical anecdotal information...." Read more

"Cougar: Ecology & Conservation is perhaps the most comprehensive book available for the lay person interested in cougars...." Read more

"Very technical. Many parts were boring. But there were many areas that were interesting, making it worth the read...." Read more

6 customers mention "Readability"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, with one noting that the chapters are accessible to most interested parties.

"...Most chapters are readable by most interested parties. A few are for the specialist...." Read more

"...Overall great book!! Just a warning though, personally I think the image quality of the tables and figure are very poor for the kindle version...." Read more

"...But there were many areas that were interesting, making it worth the read. I feel like I have taken a graduate level course on the cougar...." Read more

"...This is the best book written on the subject. This book was used but arrived brand spanking new and still wrapped. Best deal yet!" Read more

A must for cougar lovers!
5 out of 5 stars
A must for cougar lovers!
Hornocker is the guru on Cougars which I'm crazy about since I've lived with two for 15 years. This is the best book written on the subject. This book was used but arrived brand spanking new and still wrapped. Best deal yet!
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Chris Pague
    5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced with the fulcrum in the right place
    Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A book about the conservation and management of a species that can kill you always presents a challenge to the writers and editors. In Cougar: Ecology and Conservation the writers have struck a wonderful balance. But balance in wildlife conservation is often mistakenly aimed at the middle. Written for professionals and ecologists, this compendium starts with the fulcrum fully in support of cougars being present, fulfilling an ecological function and done so with respect for one of the few large carnivores teaming in large numbers. With that purpose and goal, the authors then proceed to summarize the biology, context, challenges, and strategies that might achieve the goals. Most writers acknowledge the realities of living with courses and that peaceful coexistence viewed in the context of the species and populations, sometimes with individuals being addressed pragmatically -- but always in the context of the greater conservation goals. Most chapters are readable by most interested parties. A few are for the specialist. The sum is a thoughtful, science-based, inclusive, and yes, even heart-felt book that can found a future of respectful and lasting co-existence. To achieve conservation of our natural world, for all of the tangible and intangible benefits, will require that balance starts with the fulcrum in the right place. This book achieves just such a placement in this reader's eyes.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Paul Julian
    5.0 out of 5 stars A leader in cougar/puma ecology
    Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Dr Hornocker does a great job pulling together all the information available on cougar ecology including historical anecdotal information. Every page I learned something new about puma that I did know before. Overall great book!! Just a warning though, personally I think the image quality of the tables and figure are very poor for the kindle version. If your big on text and not on the pictures/tables then the kindle version is for you. I personally dissect everything and at times it was very difficult to read the table and decipher the figures.
    6 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • jdown
    3.0 out of 5 stars Very mixed feelings about this book
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Cougar: Ecology & Conservation is perhaps the most comprehensive book available for the lay person interested in cougars. I especially enjoyed Culver's Ch. 3, describing how the fossil record and especially DNA analyses have revealed the remarkable story of the evolution and biogeography of cougars.

    I bought the book to read Ch. 7, Walker and Novaro’s account of pumas (cougars) in Patagonia. My wife and I have booked a “Puma Tour” in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonian Chile, where we hope to see and photograph pumas. We had our choice of three companies who do puma ecotours. Walker & Novaro, however, did not mention the growing ecotourism activity centering on pumas. Perhaps these tours began only after the 2010 publication of Cougar. Or perhaps puma ecotourism is outside their range of interest.

    I did not enjoy some parts of Cougar, such as Ch. 4 & Ch. 5, because of a personal opposition to all “sport hunting.” That men and women would kill a wild animal for no other reason than it gives them pleasure to kill seems an abomination. That they could kill an animal as beautiful and rare as a cougar is an obscenity. That many of the educated men and women who wrote chapters in this book could condone, even aid and abet this barbaric practice, is beyond comprehension.

    Many authors who wrote chapters in Cougar glossed over what they do with the polite euphemisms and code phrases of wildlife biology. For example, “wildlife management practices” (code for ensuring that rich, loud-mouthed Texans find sufficient animals to kill when they arrive for the hunt); “sport hunting harvest“ (harvest is what you do with a wheat crop; sport hunters kill cougars; they do so for the pleasure of it); “wise use” (code meaning humans always come first; wild animals matter scarcely at all).

    Most of Cougar is devoted to thorough, often fascinating accounts of cougar biology. But I found few expressions of admiration for cougars, or sentiment that they have a right to live out their lives as evolution has shaped it. In reading Cougar, I saw little evidence that the mindset of wildlife biologists is any different from that of their predecessors decades ago: cougars are a resource; an asset. We study them in part to make sure the hunt quota will satisfy hunters without wiping out cougars entirely.

    An example of this mindset is found in Beier’s Ch. 12, where he argues that killing cougars may be necessary to build up their prey numbers. This is a dodge, a ruse often used by state wildlife agencies. New Mexico’s Dept. of Game & Fish, for example, killed cougars in order to increase the population of desert bighorn sheep. Did they fear the population might die out? No. They killed cougars so that desert bighorn numbers would grow to the point where a hunting season could be declared. Fat hunters from Texas now buy permits to kill desert bighorn sheep, thus enriching the coffers of the state and the Dept. of Game & Fish. Cougars, unfortunately, contribute nothing to the state’s economy when they kill desert bighorns. For wildlife agencies in most Western states, the beauty of killing cougars is twofold. It provides income from the sale of hunting licenses to kill cougars. Additional income is realized because more bighorn sheep, elk, and deer hunting licenses can be sold. It’s about maximizing income, you see.

    Only Negri & Quigley's Ch. 15 provides hope that cougars will survive in North America. There they describe a relatively new phenomenon - cougar advocacy groups. Today it is these advocates, environmentalists and lay people, who are actually working to change public attitudes. Better still, they go to court to defend cougars against their enemies: politicians, state wildlife agencies, and the hunting industry they both serve. How ironic that these advocacy groups, not scientists who study cougars and write books like Cougar, are doing the most to ensure this magnificent animal’s survival.
    16 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly great, but some areas boring.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Very technical. Many parts were boring. But there were many areas that were interesting, making it worth the read. I feel like I have taken a graduate level course on the cougar. I wish there was more information about behavior and anatomy.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Amazing Grace
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extensive and Informative
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    If you're a mountain lion (cougar) fan like me you'll find this book fascinating. It's full of research about the felines, the sort that really helps you understand them deeply. And the way it is laid out it doesn't really matter which paper you read first, second, etc. I bopped around as my interest dictated until, eventually, I read the whole book.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Lakota
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must for cougar lovers!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Hornocker is the guru on Cougars which I'm crazy about since I've lived with two for 15 years. This is the best book written on the subject. This book was used but arrived brand spanking new and still wrapped. Best deal yet!
    Customer image
    Lakota
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    A must for cougar lovers!

    Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015
    Hornocker is the guru on Cougars which I'm crazy about since I've lived with two for 15 years. This is the best book written on the subject. This book was used but arrived brand spanking new and still wrapped. Best deal yet!
    Images in this review
    Customer image
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • F. Heuer
    5.0 out of 5 stars higly recommended!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    This book contains everything you need to know about cougars; it is a collection of knowledge from the 20 best informed cougar researchers and is in total independant from specific opinions (hunters, conservationists...) because they did not have to agree on only one point of view. It is higly recommended for anyone with an interest in americas 2nd largest cat
    7 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Jim Hughes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    superb source of info on these complex cats.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Mrs. Beverley Easton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Very comprehensive book and speedy delivery
    Report
  • Dr. D. P.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great scientific monography about the puma (Puma concolor).
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent monogaphy with precise information about the puma and their ecology, food habits, behaviour, genetics and conservation.
    Report