Uncovering the Untold Stories of the Animal Kingdom: From Stoned Sloths to Lovelorn Hippos and Beyond

Z: The book has so many interesting and fun facts about animals, that even months after finishing the book, I can still recall little facts that often horrify my friends.
For example
- Vomiting vultures
- Shoving electric probes up a panda's rectum (?)
- Eating beaver testicles (?)

Canada on Apr 12, 2023

.C.: best book ive read in ages. laughed lots and learned lots. will be reading again!

Canada on May 13, 2021

H: Bought as a gift for a friend, who is enjoying it immensely.

Canada on Dec 09, 2020

Teal: I would rae this five stars but this book is great for me as I have a degree in wildlife, for people not educated in it then they may not enjoy it as much. Shipping was fast and condition was great!

United States on Oct 02, 2020

Daniel: The animal kingdom just became more fascinating. We can all look to our past and say how dumb we were way back when, but i see how we tried to make since of what we couldn't explain; even though we had ulterior motives a lot of the times. However, we're only human, right?
An extremely, intriguing wealth of information captured and written by an extremely, intriguing and beautiful lady. Thank you for taking us on your adventure, even if you were the one having all the fun.
I only wish my favorite animal, the duck, was weird enough to have made an appearance😁

United States on Aug 08, 2020

W. Wilson: What a wonderful book. Lucy Cooke infuses real soul into her prose, which is beautiful, poetic, and funny. Nevermind how much you'll learn from this book (which is likely going to be a lot), it's just a joy to read through Cooke's apparent passion and breadth of knowledge. There is a personality to this book, a charm born of equal parts wit and sass. It's definitely well worth the read. I bought copies for at least two other people. Take that for what it's worth.

United States on Mar 29, 2020

Alan Mattia: Lots of information about animals you might think you know, but will quickly discover you hardly know at all. Hilarious and a bit crude at times, but never anything offensive unless you are extremely sensitive to that kind of language. Definitely not just a dry collection of facts, a fun read that can expand your appreciation for animals that are more eccentric than you might think.

United States on Mar 10, 2020

Crafter: I read this on vacation and found it very entertaining with lots of fascinating (sometimes quirky, impressive or bizarre) details about each misunderstood animal. Books that claim to correct misconceptions are probably popular because we like to laugh at stupid people and feel superior, and I usually feel like I’m being manipulated and shouldn’t be enjoying it. 🙂 But this didn’t feel like that kind of book. There was enough of a mixture of history, science, psychology and ethics that it just felt well-developed and compelling.

United States on Sep 23, 2019

Trudeau: For the animal lover

Canada on Apr 02, 2019

Carolyn: This is such a fascinating book!

Although written by a scientist everything is clear and easy to understand. There is a great deal of humour in the book and also some cringe worthy descriptions of some animals’ behaviour in the wild. Ridiculous historical experiments by scientists and would-be naturalists to prove their beliefs.amounted to animal abuse and torture. She hopes that if we come to understand the truth about various animal species by dispelling myths, greater effort will be made to preserve them and their natural habitats.

The writer, Lucy Cooke is an Oxford educated zoologist and a documentary film maker. It is evident she has done much field research as well as interviewing naturalists who are studying animals long term all over the world. Her book includes much study of ancient texts and encyclopedias and also our modern beliefs and scientific work giving us a greater understanding of the 13 animals included in the book. There are ancient drawings as well as some modern photographs to illustrate some of the strangest passages.

Some long held misconceptions arose from folklore, superstition and even Aesop’s Fables. Medieval and Renaissance...

Canada on May 01, 2018