Book maps species’ comings, goings
We’ve come a long way from the days when Aristotle believed that storks winter on the moon. Now GPS tags, DNA sequencing, satellites and cellphone networks allow scientists to track animals across vast stretches of land and through sky and sea.
In “Where the Animals Go,” geographer James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti, a former design editor for National Geographic, showcase some of the latest information on animal movement gleaned from these new technologies. Through colorful maps, detailed graphics and essays, the book presents the comings and goings of species from ants and bees to jaguars, baboons, vultures and, yes, storks.
“Where the Animals Go” is full of unexpected information: “Some geese crossed the Tibetan Plateau in less than a day at ■ record-breaking climb rates of 2.2 kilometers per hour,” Cheshire writes. “That’s like ascending from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest in four hours. What’s more, they do so without acclimatization, rest, or help from the wind.”
Other chapters demonstrate the risks animals face as they try to make their way to food and water and to mate.
In a fascinating essay, “The Elephant Who Texted for Help,” Uberti describes how the GPS collar of a Kenyan elephant alerted researchers that the animal had been shot; scientists followed its tracks on screen, all the way until it succumbed to its wounds.
This and other chapters demonstrate how human intrusion has disrupted animals’ movement and, in some cases, put them in peril.
Mountain lions in the Santa Ana Mountains near Los Angeles, for example, have become “effectively marooned on an island, surrounded by freeways and ever-encroaching human development.” The long-term effect is stark: “Without the ability to breed with other gene pools, the Santa Ana population is in jeopardy.”
GPS and other technology make such discoveries possible, but tagging animals is itself risky. The simple act of “catching an animal is about the most horrible thing that can occur to it,” says bio-logging pioneer Rory Wilson. But evolving technology has also made the trackers better and less likely to put the animals in danger.
Cheshire and Uberti write about billions of data points being collected and their ravishing maps put this information to good use. But what’s missing is a deeper discussion of habitat loss, which is changing the ways animals move. Storks, as Cheshire and Uberti point out, don’t always migrate now; it’s easier to feed at garbage dumps. The conversation we need to have is about how urban environments are an underutilized resource.
Mapping animal migrations can help government officials draw park boundaries and more strategically protect animals. As Cheshire writes, “In order to fully understand why something happens we often need to know where it happens.”