Jonathan Slaght, conservationist, researcher and expert on Blakiston's fish owl, tells the story of how he saved the world's largest owl.
Jonathan Slaght | Photo: Sergey Avdeyuk
Primorye, a remote forested region near to where Russia, China and North Korea meet in a tangle of barbed wire, is the only place where brown bears, tigers and leopards co-exist. It is also home to one of nature's rarest birds, the Blakiston's fish owl. A chance encounter with this huge, strange bird was to change wildlife researcher Jonathan Slaght's life beyond measure.
This is the story of Slaght's quest to safeguard the elusive owl from extinction. During months-long journeys covering thousands of miles, he has pursued it through its forbidding territory. He has spent time with the Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga forest. And he has observed how Russia's logging interests and evolving fortunes present new threats to the owl's survival. Preserving its habitats will secure the forest for future generations, both animal and human - but can this battle be won?
Praise for Owls of the Eastern Ice:
'A tautly strung adventure ... this book has changed me' --Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk
'Remarkable. If only every endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned, courageous and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght' --Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
'Excellent' --The Times
'Gripping' --Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale
'True epic' --Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
Jonathan Slaght is a wildlife biologist and author working full time for the Wildlife Conservation Society as their Russia & Northeast Asia Coordinator, a task that includes owls, tigers, and migratory waterbirds across Asia. His work takes from from the tundra of Alaska and northeast Russia to the coastal mudflats of Thailand and Cambodia. In addition, he is one of the world’s foremost experts on Blakiston’s fish owl. He writes a semi-regular blog for Scientific American called East of Siberia, and is a regular contributor to WCS WildView, a photo blog. Jonathan’s other writings, scientific research, and photographs have been featured by the BBC World Service, the New York Times, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, The New Yorker, and Audubon Magazine, among others.
Jonathan will be in conversation with Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia.
Photo: Michael Turek
Sophy Roberts is a writer based in West Dorset, England. She focuses on remote parts of the world where she can report on wildlife conservation, threats to eco-systems and fragile cultures. Sometimes she shoots stories as well as writes them and she frequently collaborates with major photographers. The Lost Pianos of Siberia is her first book.
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