BOOKS—Wild Planet: Celebrating wildlife photographer of the year

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2013: (Actually published on October 8,  2013)

Wild Planet:  Celebrating wildlife photographer of the year
Natural History Museum 
(Cromwell Road,  London SW7 5BD,  U.K.),  2013.
143 pages,  paperback.  $23.95.

Anthologizing 80 winning entries from the Natural History Museum’s “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition,  Wild Planet is a celebration of wildlife indeed.  

Each color photograph embraces a wild animal and reminds us why we love,  protect and rescue them.
Striking examples include the cheetahs playing on page 42,  in a stunning photo by Gerald Hinde,  who followed the cubs and their mother in the Phinda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Manoj Shah took a touching photo called “Orangutan and baby” at the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra,  Indonesia.  The photo does not directly show habitat destruction due to logging to create palm oil plantations,  road construction,  and mining,  but as the mother cuddles the baby and gazes into the distance,  it is easy to imagine that she is wondering what sort of world her child will inherit.

Mervin D. Coleman’s photo of a frost-covered North American bison on page 64,  taken in the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone National Park, demonstrates how adaptable bison are to extremes in weather.
Wild Planet offers memorable introductions to crocodiles,  wildebeests,  frogs,  penguins,  meerkats,  and many other species that most of us will never actually be close to.
–– Debra J. White