Wild Animals in your Backyard

Naturalist and science journalist Ed Ricciuti describes real-life encounters with alligators in Florida, cougars in Chicago and bears nearly everywhere. As cities and suburbs sprawl, and conservation efforts enable wildlife populations to recover, large wild animals are encroaching on human turf. These creatures might be thrilling to see, but attacks on humans will only increase as we come face to face in the man-made landscape. Ricciuti explores why it’s happening, how it impacts all of us, and how to deal with it on both societal and personal levels.

Killingworth resident Edward R. Ricciuti is a science journalist, naturalist, and former curator at the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society) who has covered wildlife issues around the world. His most recent book is Bears in the Backyard: Big Animals, Sprawling Suburbs, and the New Urban Jungle. Copies of Ricciuti’s books will be available for sale and for signing.

Sponsored by the Library and the Allen Louis Loeb Foundation for the Benefit of Wildlife and Domestic Animals.