Costa Rica: Traveller's Wildlife Guides

Most travellers to Costa Rica want to experience its lush tropical forests and catch glimpses of exotic wildlife; toucans and parrots, hummingbirds and hawks, monkeys and big cats, frogs and toads, crocodiles, and (yes) snakes. Here is all the information you will need to find, identify and learn about Costa Rica's magnificent wildlife. The author, himself a wildlife biologist and experienced ecotraveller, visited national parks, reserves, and other ecological sites, discussed wildlife with local and international experts and veteran tour leaders, and then selected, for new color illustrations, nearly 350 of Costa Rica's most common amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals--the species you are actually likely to see. Also pictured are some animals of special biological significance--for instance, some highly endangered species. Easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated--you will want to have this book as constant companion on your journey. - Identification, distribution, and conservation information on Costa Rica's frequently spotted animals. - Up-to-date information on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of the families of animals to which the pictured species belong. - Information on habitats and on the most common plants you will encounter. - Brief descriptions of Costa Rica's most frequently visited parks and reserves. - Information on ecotourism in general and on conservation in Costa Rica.

About the Author :
Les Beletsky is a professional wildlife biologist and university zoology teacher. Prior to taking up writing wildlife guides he conducted many years of field research on the ecology and behavior of birds. He is the author of numerous books, including Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador, Peru and Hawaii in this series.

Review :
"Moving from the urban to the wild, a new breed of guidebooks focuses on flora and fauna (and not in the way Harold Gatty did). The Ecotraveller's Wildlife Guides grew out of its nature-loving author's frustration that 'I could not locate a single book to take along on a trip that would help me identify all the types of animals that really interested me.' So Beletsky wrote one that did. Combining natural history-lore, habits, best places to spot each creature-with pointers on specific sites and background on the state of conservation in the region today." ...this convenient field guide-sized book is absolutely packed with information for the visitor. This book provides excellent background and field information for a trip to Costa Rica and is strongly recommended. If, like many, you have trouble distinguishing a Tropical Kingsnake from a Coral Snake, or a Woolly False Vampire Bat from a Common Vampire Bat, [the price of this book] will set you on the right path. The illustrations are superb, the text simple and direct ('Jaguar-you will know it when you see it'). If you go, take this book. There are so many bad guides on the market trying to do what this book does so simply and so well. ...few are written with the same authority and attention to detail that wildlife biologist and zoology lecturer Les Beletsky has brought to bear in this volume. It could be the best (money) you spend all trip. These are books I would certainly want to read before a visit. This book is exactly what you want to be reading on a plane headed for Costa Rica for the first time. You could empty a forest's worth of trees, what with all the books being printed about Costa Rica. Pity that so few guides so fully focus on the country's ecological treasures as this one does. Here, you won't find a word about the best hotels or who's got the coldest beer. About half of its 426 slick pages are devoted to identification plates, those colorful drawings that, for instance, help you differentiate between the mealy parrott and the red-lored parrot. Joining the multitude of bird species are equally fine drawings of reptiles, monkeys, and wild cats. ...attractive color photographs of various natural habitats in Costa Rica will send many North Americans looking for airline tickets, especially in midwinter. ...very useful to first-time visitors to Costa Rica, both casual tourists and scientists contemplating serious research.--K.D.W. in Copeia