Animals in Nature

  • Vladimir Smirin &
  • Yuri Smirin
(translated by G. P. Harper) Russian Nature Press: 1999. 307 pp.

Many people think that if a book is ‘scientific’, it must be boring and end with a list of references. By these criteria, Animals in Nature is not a scientific book, even though the Russian version of the book, published in 1991, is valued by professional zoologists. Animals in Nature is intended primarily for people who like animals and want to know more about them.

Now the English version of the book is available. Geoffrey Harper's translation is faithful to the peculiarities of the authors' writing style, and the English edition includes maps of places mentioned in the text and notes explaining common Russian names of animals and geographical places.

In the eye of the beholder: A chipmunk drawn by Vladimir Smirin.

The authors, brothers Vladimir and Yuri Smirin, are zoologists and wildlife artists, and have travelled through many parts of the former Soviet Union — the Far East, Chukotka, Kamchatka, the Komandor Islands, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, and the White and Caspian seas. They observed rodents and antelopes, seals and chamois, wolves and Arctic foxes, whales and walruses. The notes of a keen observer of animals' lives are enhanced by excellent drawings of the animals. Some of the drawings can be viewed on the Internet (http://www.rusnatpress.org.uk).

Books on animals are often lavishly illustrated with glossy photographs. Such photographs may seem more exact and more objective than drawings, but, in the words of the authors, “Photographs never achieve the same organic unity with the text as can the author's own drawings, so that viewing the photographs and reading the text are generally separate acts … While photography or film is essential for analyzing movement, drawings are better for a living portrayal in which the author can record personal impressions and experience, and represent what was actually seen.”

Stories about animals written by naturalists and illustrated with the authors' drawings form a distinctive genre of fiction merging with wildlife art. This genre was and is very popular in Russia. Several generations of Russian naturalists were raised on the books of Ernest Seton-Thompson and Alexandr Formozov. The book by Vladimir and Yuri Smirin deserves the same ranking.

The abundance of wildlife photography books available is most welcome, but it would be a pity if they supplanted the works of wildlife artists who provide deep insight into animals' lives.