cover image Game Wars: 2the Undercover Pursuit of Wildlife Poachers

Game Wars: 2the Undercover Pursuit of Wildlife Poachers

Marc Reisner. Viking Books, $19.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-670-81486-2

Reisner ( Cadillac Desert ) here gives a colorful, action-packed account of three elaborate U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undercover operations that halted illegal trade in alligator hides, walrus ivory and sacalait (crappie, a fish much favored by southerners). His chief character is agent Dave Hall of the New Orleans office, who masterminds covert operations from Louisiana swamplands to New York City warehouses, from Alaska to Hawaii. Reisner accompanied Hall and David Tullos of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries on the sacalait case; he met one of Hall's reformed outlaws, A. J. Caro, who infiltrated poaching gangs. There are stories of undercover stings, massive corruption and wild drives across the country. In the final section, Reisner converses with Hall on environmental subjects--the loss of habitat, poaching and pollution. This is a great good guys-bad guys adventure. (Apr.)