The Times Nature Book of the Year 2020Winner of the PENE.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardRemarkable. If only every endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned courageous and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght Isabella Tree author of WildingGripping Dave Goulson author of A Sting in the TalePrimorye a remote forested region near to where Russia China and North Korea meet in a tangle of barbed wire is the only place where brown bears tigers and leopards coexist. It is also home to one of natures rarest birds the Blakistons fish owl. A chance encounter with this huge strange bird was to change wildlife researcher Jonathan C. Slaghts life beyond measure.This is the story of Slaghts quest to safeguard the elusive owl from extinction. During monthslong journeys covering thousands of miles he has pursued it through its forbidding territory. He has spent time with the Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga forest. And he has observed how Russias logging interests and evolving fortunes present new threats to the owls survival. Preserving its habitats will secure the forest for future generations both animal and human but can this battle be won Exhilarating and clearsighted Owls of the Eastern Ice is an impassioned reflection on our relationship with the natural world and on what it means to devote ones career to a single pursuit.Slaght makes the people wildlife and landscape of the Russian Far East come alive. I havent enjoyed a book on remote Russia as much as this since Ian Fraziers Travels in Siberia Sophy Roberts author of The Lost Pianos of SiberiaTrue epic. Powerful passionate Charles Foster author of Being a Beast