Extreme Conservation

Life at the margins has long weathered extremes: Tibetan wild yaks, Arctic musk-oxen, Bhutanese takin (‘gnu goats’), and the Gobi’s saiga antelopes all became inured to dryness, thin air, and cold. Now, climate change, predators and hunters are driving these “elusive, dazzling treasures” to the brink. In refreshingly footnote-free dispatches, conservation biologist Joel Berger reveals traits that may yet allow slow reproducing herd animals to adapt. Faced with the “disquieting desperation” that pervades the no-longer-so-icy barrens, Berger’s solution is stubbornly simple: “Maintain what we have and restore what we’ve lost.”