New Europe goes wild

After decades of persecution and habitat destruction in western Europe, brown bears, wolves and bison are just a few examples of wild species either extinct or clinging on for dear life, confined to heavily monitored reserves under almost clinical conditions. Bradt’s new Central and Eastern European Wildlife guide looks towards ‘New Europe’ and its wealth of wild species preserved by politics and tradition.

As author Gerard Gorman describes, the countries of central and eastern Europe ‘have many things in common, not least the fact that until the early 1990s very few visitors from the West were willing or able to explore them’. The effects of this enforced isolation were apparent politically, culturally and economically. However, on the positive side, in the absence of high technology monocultures, dependent on expensive chemical intervention, traditional farming practices preserved the region’s rich natural history.

Thus, as the states of ‘New Europe’ have emerged, the remarkably unspoiled nature of their abundant wildlife contrasts vividly with the vestigial flora and fauna evident in much of western Europe. Whilst not attempting to take the place of an exhaustively detailed field reference guide, in one eminently portable volume Bradt’s new Central and Eastern European Wildlife packs over 200 full-colour photographs covering those species most likely to be observed by an interested amateur.

Key examples from all the major taxonomic groups are included, from birds, mammals and reptiles to amphibians and invertebrates. Country-by-country listings of key wildlife sites explore diverse landscapes from primeval forests in Poland, the High Tatras of Slovakia and the Dinaric Alps of Bosnia & Herzegovina to the myriad waterways of the Danube Delta and endless crinkly convolutions of the Croatian coast. Tips on how to track and photograph wildlife further combine to create a vital companion for natural history travellers to this surprising region.

Gerard Gorman has travelled extensively in the countries of central and eastern Europe. When not watching or writing about wildlife, he runs a guiding service for visiting birders, lepidopterists and other naturalist. To date he has led over 400 group tours in the region.

Title: Central and Eastern European Wildlife
Author: Gerard Gorman
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: July 18th 2008
Price: £15.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 231 6