What is the common thread connecting the sad Najin and Fatu (the last two female northern white rhinos), Lonesome George (a solitary giant tortoise), the Tasmanian wolf and the great auk? They are all central characters of what has been defined the “sixth mass extinction”. According to current estimates, 99.9% of our planet’s species have already disappeared. Whereas the previous “big five” mass extinctions were caused by great natural disasters, in today’s Anthropocene era it’s humans – the “overbearing species” – who are to blame for withering biodiversity. This responsibility cannot be denied, and this book’s author, a passionate zoologist, does not attempt to do so. With extraordinary narrative ability, he involves readers in poignant and revealing stories and fervid calls to action. It’s up to us to change our attitudes towards the planet and its guests and to ensure that we can continue to inhabit it. A world without pandas is not only less beautiful, but risks being an increasingly less hospitable place for us: we are all connected, and only together can we be saved.

Maurizio Casiraghi teaches Zoology and Evolution at the Bicocca University in Milan.