WILD HUNTERS: Predators in Peril by...

WILD HUNTERS: Predators in Peril by Monte Hummel, Sherry Pettigrew and John Murray, illustrations by Robert Bateman (Roberts Rinehart / World Wildlife Fund: $16.95; 251 pp . , paperback original). This thoughtful report on the status of the remaining large carnivores (polar bears, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, cougars and wolverines) in North America was adapted from a study prepared for the W.W.F. and the Canadian Parks Service. Predators at the top of the food chain pose special problems for conservationists: They exist in relatively small populations, they often lack cuddly appeal and some of them have the effrontery to attack humans. The authors’ conclusions are intriguing and alarming: The grizzly bear has been eliminated from 99% of its range in the lower 48 states; killing only 2% of the adult females can precipitate a decline in a polar-bear population. The recommendations for the conservation stress the importance of habitat preservation.