Author Kate Messner Shares Details about Her Fascinating Books, Tracking Pythons and Tracking Tortoises

Science author Kate Messner talks about her forthcoming book, Tracking Tortoises, and its predecessor, Tracking Pythons. These fascinating books share Kate's experiences as she follows scientists who are using radio telemetry and other tracking tools to learn more about animal species around the world. Both books include QR codes linking to videos that Kate took while she was in the field.

Tracking Tortoises
Galápagos giant tortoises. are fascinating—and endangered. They live only on the Galápagos Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador. These tortoises face threats from the humans who live on—and visit—the islands, as well as from Earth's warming climate. Join author Kate Messner on an a journey to the Galápagos Islands to see these incredible creatures up close and discover how cutting-edge technology is helping scientists to study and protect them. Page Plus links lead to videos of scientists at work in the field.

Tracking Pythons
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, so when one showed up dead along the side of a Florida highway in 1979, scientists wondered where it came from. No one knew the snakes had launched a full-scale invasion. Pet pythons that escaped or were released by their owners started breeding in the wild, and these enormous predators began eating every animal in their path. Today a group of scientists at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is tracking Burmese pythons to find ways to stop their spread. Page Plus links lead to video clips and photos of the scientists working in the field. Delve into the science of pythons and their role as invasive predators.

Learn more about these and other new titles at LernerBooks.com.

Music credits
"Farm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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