Review:

Bill Clark was the curator of the Hai-Bar Wildlife refuge in Eilat, Israel between 1980 and 1982. The Hai-Bar refuge’s main mandate was the restoration of biblical wildlife to Israel’s Negev Desert. This book delves into the complicated world of wildlife care and re-introduction into the harsh environemt of the Negev Desert. It also touches on the often difficult relationship that wildlife management encounters while dealing with the political realm of middle eastern politics. Overall, an excellent read! This often comedic and informative account covers such diverse topics as

• Hoof care for a male ibex (Capra nubiana)
• Tranquilizing “Napoleon” a scimitar-horned Oryx (Oryx dammah) to repair a gore wound
• A hilarious attempt at desert revitalization with an ill conceived irrigation project
• Rehabilitating “Saint Patrick” a poisoned short-toed eagle.(Circaetus gallicus)
• Rehabilitation of a lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni)
• Tracking a female Judean Desert Leopard. (Panthera pardus nimr)
• Interactions with local Bedouin tribes.
• Desert Caracals (Caracal caracal) and how the local Bedouin tribes struggled to keep them from eating their chickens.
• Descriptions of the local Druze people
• A narrative of how Mesopotamian Fallow Deer (D. dama mesopotamica) were collected from Iran and brought to Israel in the late 1970’s during the Islamic revolution.
• Rehabilitation of “Sue Ellen” a desert wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) that had been caught in a fence.
• Challenges of caring for “Bonnie and Clyde” two North African Desert ostriches (Struthio camelus).
• Description of “Cinderella” a white Oryx (Oryx leucoryx), an animal Crusaders first identified with the legends of “unicorns”
• A description of how a herd of Onagers (Equus hemionus) were reintroduced back to the Negev desert.