Costa Rica is one of the world's top biodiversity hotspots. The key to the country's wildlife riches is its range of habitats, which is created by the spine of mountains running down its centre.
This superbly illustrated book investigates the key habitats including rainforest, cloudforest and paramo, and showcases the diverse abundance of wildlife that they support. Wild Costa Rica explores the country's outstanding network of protected areas, including flagship wildlife-watching locations such as Monteverde, Volcan Irazu and Tapanti. It features exciting and spectacular species such as the Scarlet Macaw, Resplendent Quetzal, Three-toed Sloth, Tapir, Margay and Spider and Howler Monkeys. No less impressive are the myriad smaller mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants.Illustrated throughout with more than 200 superb photographs, Wild Costa Rica is a celebration of, and a showcase for, the splendour and diversity of this small country's natural history.
Written in an engaging, educational and thought-provoking style, it also describes the ongoing efforts to protect and nurture wildlife habitats and species.
Adrian Hepworth was born in England and has lived in Costa Rica for more than a decade. After graduating in Zoology from the University of Bristol in 1991 he travelled the world before settling in Costa Rica in 1993. As a freelance wildlife photographer based in San Jose, Adrian's work has taken him around most of Central America gathering stock images and photographing for travel magazines. In 2002 he won a category in the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Customer Reviews:
Wild Costa Rica - the wildlife and landscapes of Costa Rica
by Keith Betton in UK
New Holland has a tradition of publishing a great run of books with titles such as Wild India, Wild Malaysia and so on. All have stunning photographs and are created by an expert on the region. Adrian Hepworth is a British freelance wildlife photographer who has lived and worked in Costa Rica since 1993 and his work is very impressive.
Wild Costa Rica takes a similar approach to the previous titles by looking at the country's habitats and wildlife in sections. Firstly we are taken through rainforest, cloud forest and dry forest, followed by freshwater marshes and finally beaches – which make up a huge percentage of Costa Rica's 1300 km of coastline. We are then offered sections on each wildlife grouping – with 12 pages devoted to birds. There are also chapters on volcanoes and the highest mountain in Costa Rica – Mount Chirrip. There is also plenty of information on the country's national parks and nature reserves, and a section on conservation groups and current environmental projects.