YOSEMITE, CA – Countless books have been written about Yosemite National Park’s renowned scenery, yet for all its iconic vistas, the valley and the back country are more than scenery—they are home to a complex, thriving community of animals. Yosemite Wildlife, by writer and conservation leader Beth Pratt, is an in‑depth, lovingly crafted celebration of the park’s fauna that moves well beyond the quick reference of field guides. Pratt’s aim was to continue the legacy of Grinnell & Storer’s landmark 1924 work, Animal Life in the Yosemite, and to bring contemporary readers into intimate contact with the park’s living inhabitants.
Pratt’s prose is informed by decades of observation and stewardship. “Yosemite’s landscape had me at hello,” she says, “yet as I discovered the remarkable wildlife that call the park home, my love affair deepened.” She has lived near the park’s southwest entrance for more than twenty‑five years and has spent almost four decades visiting and studying Yosemite; that length of engagement shows in the patient, detail‑rich portraits she draws of both familiar species and the lesser‑known denizens of the valley, meadows, and high country.
Yosemite Wildlife blends natural history, conservation insight, and personal narrative. Pratt weaves together field observations, interviews with rangers and researchers, reminiscences from long‑time visitors, and evocative selections from the park’s archives. The result is a book that informs as much as it moves—introducing readers to the behaviors, adaptations, and seasonal rhythms of Yosemite’s animals while showing why protecting their habitats matters now more than ever.
Complementing Pratt’s text is the photography of naturalist‑photographer Robb Hirsch, who spent more than 30 years documenting wildlife in the field. Hirsch’s images—intimate portraits, candid action shots, and quietly powerful landscapes—bring Pratt’s words to life. Together, text and photograph create a sensory portrait of the park in which the creatures are not merely catalogued but revealed as actors in an ongoing ecological story.
Despite the mounting pressures on wildlife everywhere, Pratt frames Yosemite Wildlife as a book of hope. “Despite all the challenges wildlife face, however, this is a book of hope—a book to elicit awe and wonder, and to inspire action,” she says. That optimism is balanced with clear-eyed discussion of threats and practical steps visitors and citizens can support to safeguard Yosemite’s future.
Yosemite Wildlife appears in the Yosemite Conservancy’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide—one of many thoughtful selections that make meaningful gifts for nature lovers. Every purchase made through the guide supports Yosemite National Park, funding trails, educational programs, and conservation projects. To buy Beth’s book and explore other gift options that give back to the park, visit https://goyose.org/4oHL0W0.
Whether you are a lifelong Yosemite visitor, a budding naturalist, or someone searching for a gift that deepens connection to the natural world, Yosemite Wildlife offers a richly rewarding read: a careful, compassionate portrait of the creatures that make Yosemite not just a place of astonishing scenery, but a living, breathing ecosystem worth cherishing.
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