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The curse of the labrador duck my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction

In an obsessive 82,000-mile quest for dead birds, how much trouble can one scientist get into' Finally, the world's leading authority on the extinct Labrador Duck, Dr. Glen Chilton, shares the story of his frenzied obsession to reveal the histories behind the mysterious bird -- a saga wherein he sets out to examine the remains of every Labrador Duck, conduct genetic analysis on every Labrador Duck egg, and visit every site where the duck was shot...with many a (mis)adventure along the way. More elusive than the Passenger Pigeon, the Dodo, or the Great Auk and breeding in places so obscure that no certain records exist of its nests, the Labrador Duck succumbed to extinction almost before anyone realized it was in decline. When Chilton began his travels, there were thought to be approximately fifty stuffed specimens, scattered among the museums of Europe and North America. However, as his search progressed, it became clear that some specimens had been lost to war and theft, while others lay hidden in far-flung collections, overseen by secretive curators. After traveling the equivalent of 3.3 times around the world with a series of oddball companions, Chilton finally began to close in on every known specimen...but not before he risked heavy-metal poisoning in Russia, swam naked in a glacier-fed stream, corresponded with a millionaire murderer, and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City. A magnificent blend of travel writing, science, detective work, and mishap, The Curse of the Labrador Duck is the zany adventure of one biologist's obsessive quest to uncover the mysteries of one of the world's most enigmatic birds.

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  • "In an obsessive 82,000-mile quest for dead birds, how much trouble can one scientist get into' Finally, the world's leading authority on the extinct Labrador Duck, Dr. Glen Chilton, shares the story of his frenzied obsession to reveal the histories behind the mysterious bird -- a saga wherein he sets out to examine the remains of every Labrador Duck, conduct genetic analysis on every Labrador Duck egg, and visit every site where the duck was shot...with many a (mis)adventure along the way. More elusive than the Passenger Pigeon, the Dodo, or the Great Auk and breeding in places so obscure that no certain records exist of its nests, the Labrador Duck succumbed to extinction almost before anyone realized it was in decline. When Chilton began his travels, there were thought to be approximately fifty stuffed specimens, scattered among the museums of Europe and North America. However, as his search progressed, it became clear that some specimens had been lost to war and theft, while others lay hidden in far-flung collections, overseen by secretive curators. After traveling the equivalent of 3.3 times around the world with a series of oddball companions, Chilton finally began to close in on every known specimen...but not before he risked heavy-metal poisoning in Russia, swam naked in a glacier-fed stream, corresponded with a millionaire murderer, and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City. A magnificent blend of travel writing, science, detective work, and mishap, The Curse of the Labrador Duck is the zany adventure of one biologist's obsessive quest to uncover the mysteries of one of the world's most enigmatic birds."@en
  • "Describes the author's pursuit of the believed-extinct Labrador Duck, an effort for which he traveled the world, swam unclothed in a glacier-fed stream, and dined with Russian gangsters."
  • "Glen Chilton shares the story of his frenzied obsession with the Labrador Duck right down to his final pursuit of the last living duck, with many adventures along the way."@en
  • "Little is known about the Labrador Duck, which once populated eastern North America but has been extinct for more than a hundred years. Stuffed specimens are rare'only fifty-four are thought to exist. Even rarer is the kind of scientist who would travel around the globe more than three times in search of every last stuffed bird. And what about the curse' Everyone who has owned a particular specimen has come to a bad end. Over the course of his epic journey, Chilton encountered a colourful flock of scientists, journalists and amateur ornithologists, not to mention a Scottish egg thief. His pursuit of the extinct species took him from the duck's breeding habitat in Labrador to Europe and America as he searched museums and personal collections. He also endured numerous hangovers and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City, all leading up to his final pursuit of the last duck and his own part in the species' many-feathered legacy. The Curse of the Labrador Duck is a quest unlike any other, an impulsive journey around the planet in pursuit of a bird no one in our lifetime has seen alive or ever will again."@en

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  • "Electronic books"@en
  • "Electronic books"

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  • "The curse of the labrador duck my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"@en
  • "The curse of the Labrador duck my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"
  • "Curse of the labrador duck : my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"
  • "The curse of the labrador duck : my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"@en
  • "The curse of the labrador duck : my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"
  • "The curse of the Labrador duck : my obsessive quest to the edge of extinction"

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