Description
Book SynopsisEncounters with wild animals are among the most significant relationships between humans and the natural world. Presenting a history of human interactions with wildlife in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan between 1870 and 1960, Wildlife, Land, and People examines the confrontations that led to diverse consequences from the near annihilation of some species to the extraordinary preservation of others and skilfully finds the roots of these relationships in people's needs for food, sport, security, economic development, personal fulfillment, and identity. Donald Wetherell shows how utilitarian practices, in which humans viewed animals either as friendly sources of profit or as threats to their economic and personal security, dominated until the 1960s. Alongside these views, however, other attitudes asserted that wild animals were part of the beauty, mystery, and order of the natural world. Wetherell outlines the ways in which this attitude gained strength after World War II, distingu
Trade Review"There is something in the tremendous loss of species at the hands of humans discussed here that invites comparison as a Prairies version of Farley Mowat's Sea of Slaughter." Darcy Ingram, University of Ottawa and Selkirk College " Wetherell (Alberta Formed- Alberta Transformed) has crafted a magnum opus of environmental history outlining the complex relationships between humans and wildlife on the Canadian prairies since 1870. Though this is a hefty, academic study, it is written and highly recommended for a broader readership interested in history and conservation." Publisher' s Weekly
