The BBC Natural History Unit's wildlife specials

Based on a series of BBC television programmes featuring six of the most charismatic animals on Earth, this illustrated text offers insights into the lives of the polar bear, wolf, crocodile, eagle, leopard and humpback whale.

The contributors include: Martha Holmes, who followed the polar bear throughout its Arctic range and whose experiences included an emergency rescue from a drifting ice floe; Mike Richards, who trekked through dense forests in the Philippines to film a rare monkey-eating eagle; Mike Salisbury, whose team were encircled by wild buffalo seeking to escape a hungry wolf pack; Karen Bass, who explored the world of the crocodile; Amanda Barrett who, together with her colleague Owen Newman, used infra-red lights to film leopards hunting baboons at night; and Andy Byatt, whose team filmed humpback whales from a boat and a specially constructed remote-controlled airship, as well as underwater.