Wildlife of Madagascar (Wildlife Explorer Guides) Paperback – November 15, 2016

I went to Madagascar on a birding trip but Mad has so much bizarre wildlife that you're always looking for the other things like the lemurs and chameleons, and this book covers pretty much everything you're likely to run across and want to see. It's even fairly good at all the birds. Very good photos. A really nice touch is a small map for every species where you're likely to find it: southwest, rainforest, etc. This is an excellent concept: a field guide for pretty much ALL the wildlife you're likely to see and where you're likely to see it. It works especially well for Mad because because the total number of species of any class of wildlife isn't that great; there are less than 300 birds in total although 70-80% are found nowhere else. Also, many of the lemurs and other mammals are only out at night and so it's not so hard to cover the main ones a "tourist" is ever gonna see.

I purchased this book before a four week tour of Madagascar. I am primarily a birdwatcher and bird photographer and already had a bird field guide for the country, but wanted additional information for the plants, mammals and reptiles. This book has excellent photographs, range maps, and descriptions of the plants and animals that one is likely to encounter.

Of course, given its scope, and need to be portable, it does not cover every species in any group. But the coverage of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians is thorough and includes the species likely to be seen on a tour. The coverage of birds is extensive, but birders will want one of the dedicated bird guides; however, it includes nuggets of behavioral information about the birds that are covered that you won’t find in the guides. (Note that both authors are bird guides and one has a Ph.D. in ornithology) It provides the only field guide treatment of Madagascar butterflies that I’m aware of; though in many cases it will only take you to the genus level.The only major omissions are arthropods – no odonates (dragonflies/damselflies) or scorpions are covered – and no fish or reef animals. The lack of discussion of odonates is particularly disappointing since I’m not aware of any accessible identification source for them. It should also be emphasized that this is primarily an identification guide. It has only a short introduction and discussion of Madagascar and its natural habitats. However, it does pack in a lot of information with numerous text boxes and lists highlighting interesting facts throughout the book.

I am a fan of our cousins the lemurs as well as the other wildlife of Madagascar. If you can't get to Madagascar, this book is the next best thing. And if you can manage to go, this book will help you there, and provide hours of fascinating reading when you return.

Great little book showing much of what we expect to see. Nothing it depth, certainly not ever animal in Madagascar but it will certainly do the job for the amateur naturalists.

If you just glance at the book, it seems informative. But if you read first few pages (how to read this book), you will be astounded at how much information is packed into a single page. Just one lemur page shows tiny map where it is located in Madagascar, distribution, ID, voice, behavior, endangered status, length, weight. Some pictures clearly indicates sex, as in some species, male and female appearance is quite different. It is clear that the effort to collect and compile information by these two authors was a labor of love, going far beyond just doing a job.

Like it

I've been looking for a guide to the parks and wildlife of Madagascar. From the reviews, all the travel guides seem no good. This got good reviews, but it's more of a reference book. It doesn't explain history or give any context. It's handy if you just want a quick reference guide.