Tuesday, November 8, 2016

The Tiger

John Vaillant may have an obsession with big cats; The Tiger is the second book of his that I've read, following The Jaguar's Children.

Unlike The Jaguar's Children, however, The Tiger is a true story. Vaillant takes us into a small Russian town in the mid-1990s that was terrorized by a tiger that had an abnormal taste for human flesh.

There is a lot to learn from this book: not only about tigers and about Russian history, but also about human interaction with these cats, both today and in our evolutionary history. It would be appear to be no coincidence that children are fascinated with tigers and other animals...it would likely have helped with natural selection to have been paying attention to these animals in our primitive environments.

I highly recommend the book to anyone interested by this topic.

1 comment:

Terri Y. said...

I concur, an excellent book, completely compelling. Gave me newfound respect for this magnificent animal.