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Read This Book: The Truth About Animals
Let’s talk about sloths. Lucy Cooke founded the Sloth Appreciation Society with one thought in mind: Being fast is overrated. Her book The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife (Basic 2018) grew out of a love for nature’s underappreciated slow movers and, really, any animal with a good story. Sweden is home to nearly 400,000 moose. Moose there (yes, moose, not mooses) invade local towns in a drunken stupor once a year to eat fruit in their human neighbors' backyards as it begins to fall off the trees. The city of Stockholm’s police department receives 50 drunk moose calls every fall.
Words by Matthew Zampa
Let’s talk about sloths. Lucy Cooke founded the Sloth Appreciation Society with one thought in mind: Being fast is overrated. Her book The Truth About Animals: Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos, and Other Tales from the Wild Side of Wildlife (Basic 2018) grew out of a love for nature’s underappreciated slow movers and, really, any animal with a good story.
Sweden is home to nearly 400,000 moose. Moose there (yes, moose, not mooses) invade local towns in a drunken stupor once a year to eat fruit in their human neighbors’ backyards as it begins to fall off the trees. The city of Stockholm’s police department receives 50 drunk moose calls every fall.
Okay, drunk moose, check. But what ever happened to the hungry, hungry hippo? They’re much more than that. Hippos are big talkers, and they have a special, extra blubbery chin that allows them to use the vibration of their throat to talk underwater while their top half soaks up the sun. Hippos pick up the vibrations in their jawbone and send them to their inner ear like a landline.
Bottom line: Animals are full of surprises. Get it firsthand from a witty zoologist and National Geographic Explorer in The Truth About Animals.
The Author
Matthew Zampa
Matt is an award-winning independent journalist. His reporting has been featured in USA Today, The Washington Post, HuffPost, Vox, PBS, and NPR, among others.
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