Canadian Geographic Magazine: December 2009 issue

NEWSLETTER

magazine / dec09

In this issue

December 2009

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In the December issue of Canadian Geographic — the magazine’s 80th-anniversary issue, an all-wildlife extravaganza — we look at the evolution of wildlife conservation and management. As Brian Payton notes in the cover story, flash back 80 years, or 40 years, or even one year, and you will see myriad examples of wanton entitlement by humans believing that unlimited numbers of animals were put on Earth simply for us to hunt. Fortunately, you will also find many stories of innovative thinkers who have led us to appreciate the interrelatedness and vulnerability of species and ecosystems and whose discoveries have led to generations of biologists, conservationists and citizens dedicating themselves to enriching the health of the planet’s wildlife.

PLUS: Candace Savage on the rebirth of the black-footed ferret — the world’s cutest predator; Dan Bortolotti on the mysterious lives of blue whales — the world’s largest animal; and much more.

On the cover: A wolf named Delinda
Photographer John Marriott followed a gray wolf pack in the Bow Valley for over a year and learned a touching lesson about wildlife conservation.

FEATURES

Return of the ferret
Erased from the Canadian prairie seven decades ago and dwindling to within a whisker of extinction, the black-footed ferret is poised to make a precarious recovery
Story by Candace Savage with photography by Jo-Anne McArthur

Exclusively online
See an exclusive video of the ferret release, view a behind-the-scenes photo essay of the Toronto Zoo’s breeding program and discover why the ferret’s rebirth has the area’s Lakota First Nation dancing.

CG Photo Club: Field Report
An interview with Photographer Jo-Anne McArthur
Jo-Anne McArthur’s photojournalism capturing the lives of animals has taken her to almost 40 countries. Read about her adventures and learn what it takes to create a riveting photo essay.

The wild life
From trapping beavers to tracking dragonflies, wildlife management principles and practices have evolved dramatically over the past century
By Brian Payton

Blue shifts
Richard Sears has spent three decades finding and photographing blue whales — and they still keep him guessing
By Dan Bortolotti

Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year Contest Winners
Canadian Geographic, the Canadian Museum of Nature and Canada Post present the winners of our Wildlife Photography of the Year Contest

DEPARTMENTS

The inside story
Northern exposure: 80 years of Arctic activity by the RCGS, Charles Camsell’s cure for loneliness, The next generation of northern scientists, Virtual critters, Stamp art, A fair climb

Editor’s notebook
From game to wildlife

Contributors
Meet our writers and photographers

Reverberations
Outport spirit, Bridging green and old, Former wardens reply

Discovery
Something’s fishy in the Fraser,
Do ewe follow? Not in my backyard,
Probing the deep past, Legacy of
the garbage strike

À la carte
Species diversity is right under our
nose — and that’s a problem
By Steven Fick and Emma Lehmberg

Reviews
The Curse of the Labrador Duck, Smiling Bears, Grizzlyville, A Sound Like Water Dripping, The Bedside Book of Beasts, World Ocean Census, The Migration of Birds

On the horizon
The legacy and future of International Polar Year

Mosaic
Black magic raven
Photography and story by Chris Colbourne

In Habitat
Nesting instincts of ospreys
By Donna K. Young