Craig Packer Livres

"Lions lead intricate lives. They hunt together, raise cubs together, and defend territories together. But though life at the top of the food chain may mean that lions have little to fear from other species - they can easily dominate every other carnivore in their midst - they still must constantly safeguard against the threat posed by other lions. Each day is dominated by the demands of raising a family while protecting themselves against enemies endowed with the same strengths and skills. Biologist Craig Packer has spent his career studying the African lion, one of the most fascinating animals on earth. In this book, he synthesizes his decades of research in the Serengeti into an up-to-date portrait of the African lion, and reveals how he and his colleagues have come to understand this creature's behavior, ecology, and conservation. Packer opens the book by providing readers with background on lions' territory, daily behavior, lifespan, and physiology. From there he delves more deeply into lion society, illustrating the complexity of lion life from cub rearing and foraging to competition with other lions. In the final chapters, Packer zooms out to summarize what is known about lion ecological abundance and distribution as well as their conservation status. Not surprisingly, lions are increasingly threatened; however, Packer ends his book on a hopeful note, pointing to programs that are successfully protecting lion populations"-- Provided by publisher

The Mayflower Park Hotel started life as the Bergonian Hotel on July 16, 1927. One of Seattle's first uptown hotels, it was designed by architect B. Dudley Stuart and built by Stephen Berg at a cost of $750,000. In the midst of the Great Depression, the hotel was sold and renamed Hotel Mayflower. In 1948, Washington State legalized cocktail lounges, and the Hotel Mayflower became Seattle's first hotel to open one. In the ensuing decades, Seattle prospered, and it hosted the 1962 World's Fair with its symbolic Space Needle. By the 1970s, Seattle was in a deep recession, and the hotel had become sadly neglected. In 1974, Birney and Marie Dempcy formed a limited partnership to purchase the hotel and renamed it the Mayflower Park Hotel. Restoration started immediately, and after 40 years, the Dempcys remain dedicated to the tradition of making the Mayflower Park Hotel "Quite Simply, One of a Kind."

From flat-topped acacia trees to great migrations of wildebeest across an edgeless expanse of grass, the Serengeti is one of the world's most renowned ecosystems. And at the apex of this incredible landscape prowls its seemingly indomitable ruler: the Serengeti lion. These majestic mammals are skillful hunters, iconic, and integral to Serengeti health. But they also commit infanticide; eat local people and destroy local livelihoods; are a source of profit for those who make money shooting or conserving them (and sometimes both); and are in constant danger from the encroachments of another species: humans. With Lions in the Balance, celebrated lion researcher and conservationist Craig Packer takes us back into the complex, tooth-and-claw worlds of lion conservation and behavior. A sequel to Packer's Into Africa--which gave many readers their first experience of field work in Africa, of Tanzanian roads, of long hours spent identifying lions by their ear marks and scars, and of the joys of bootlegged Grateful Dead tapes beneath savannah moons--this diary-based chronicle of adventure, real-life danger, and corruption will both alarm and entertain. Packer's story offers a look into the future of the lion, one in which the politics of conservation will require survival strategies far more creative and powerful than any now possessed by the citizens of the savannah--humans included. Packer is sure to infuriate poachers, politicians, and conservationists alike as he minces no words about the problems he sees. But with a narrative stretching from Arusha to Washington, DC, and marked by Packer's signature humor and incredible candor, Lions in the Balance is a tale of courage against impossible odds, a masterly blend of science and storytelling, and an urgent call to action that will captivate a pride of readers