Rat Island

By: William Stolzenburg

Narrated by: Margaret Strom

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Rat Island rises from the icy gray waters of the Bering Sea, a mass of volcanic rock covered with tundra, midway between Alaska and Siberia. Once a remote sanctuary for enormous flocks of seabirds, the island gained a new name when shipwrecked rats colonized, savaging the nesting birds by the thousands. Now, on this and hundreds of other remote islands around the world, a massive - and massively controversial - wildlife rescue mission is underway.

Islands, making up just 3 percent of Earth's landmass, harbor more than half of its endangered species. These fragile ecosystems, home to unique species that evolved in peaceful isolation, have been catastrophically disrupted by mainland predators - rats, cats, goats, and pigs ferried by humans to islands around the globe. To save these endangered islanders, academic ecologists have teamed up with professional hunters and semiretired poachers in a radical act of conservation now bent on annihilating the invaders. Sharpshooters are sniping at goat herds from helicopters. Biological SWAT teams are blanketing mountainous isles with rat poison. Rat Island reveals a little-known and much-debated side of today's conservation movement, founded on a cruel-to-be-kind philosophy.

Touring exotic locales with a ragtag group of environmental fighters, William Stolzenburg delivers both perilous adventure and intimate portraits of human, beast, hero, and villain. And amid manifold threats to life on Earth, he reveals a new reason to hope.

©2011 William Stolzenburg (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Captivating

Well written and beautifully narrated. Great deal of well documented information for those interested in natural history and conservation.

Must read for wildlife

Where does Rat Island rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very interesting and vitally important

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rat Island?

The section on Arctic Fox

Which character – as performed by Margaret Strom – was your favorite?

This is more of a book documentary so I enjoyed the whole book

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The empathy throughout for our world

Any additional comments?

Audiobooks by definition are greatly influenced by the narrator this narrator read clearly and distinctly and held my attention throughout

Opens eyes to natural history

If you could sum up Rat Island in three words, what would they be?

Environmental/wildlife must read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rat Island?

Arctic white fox

Have you listened to any of Margaret Strom’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Listener friendly

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No... Very intense material...need time to absorb

Any additional comments?

For people interested in the environment and wildlife this is a must read.