Wild Horses of the Last Land

‘A memoir and a manifesto, this chronicle of years spent with New Zealand’s wild horses is a fitting homage to a population dismissed as “pests” but better seen, in Linklater’s telling, as one beautiful facet of the kaleidoscopic, infinitely complex, always-changing multi-species patterns we call nature. This book is a case study in how close observation, over years, of one population, can yield deep insights about the study species — but also about ecology, conservation, and ethics. A must-read for horse enthusiasts, students of the practice of field ecology and science-policy interactions, and anyone involved with wildlife management.

As a bonus, Linklater shares his recipe for successful, long term management of herbivores that lack predators. With compassion and good science we can have wild horses and biodiversity too. It has never been a zero-sum game. A gripping, persuasive, and beautifully told tale.’

Wayne Linklater began his career as a freshwater ecologist before turning to wildlife biology, a path that has taken him across Africa, Australasia, North America and Southeast Asia. Over 30 years he has studied creatures as varied as caddisflies, voles, rhinoceroses and elephants as well as wild horses — experiences that have shaped both his science and his writing.

Formerly Associate Professor of Conservation Science and Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, he is now Professor of Environmental Studies at California State University, Sacramento, and is a research associate in the Center for African Conservation Ecology at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.

His work blends scientific rigour with a concern for biodiversity, drawing connections between animal ecology and behaviour, human values and conservation decisions. He writes and speaks on wildlife management, conservation and politics; environmental psychology, philosophy and ethics; and on the deeper question of how humans might reimagine and live with biodiversity.

Through his writing, Linklater continues to shape conversations in conservation, connecting science with lived experience and inviting diverse and compelling perspectives to conservation debates.

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