Humans have long observed animals for warnings of danger. Diseases and the growing threat of contagion reveal our close ties to animals. Viruses leap from bats to camels to humans. Cats catch the flu, and tourists pass tuberculosis onto elephants. And now, exploitation of the environment is causing more diseases to jump species than ever before - a threat to life rivalling climate change. The science is clear: the cause of this great acceleration is us. In Sentinel, Michael Dulaney tells the gripping stories of the people and animals at the forefront of this enormous change. Of ecologists tracking flying foxes through Australia's eastern forests, and frog-hunters netting endangered species on Indonesian mountains. And of lemmings that resist global warming, of coastal seals with bird flu, and genetically engineered disease-proof pigs. Combining vivid field reporting with natural history, these stories move beyond the fear of contagion to explore the beauty and resilience of life, and the human capacity to regenerate as much as to destroy.
