Across the planet, conservationists are locked in a high-stakes battle with the ghost of a drug lord and his herd of hippos. Scientists are fighting to save a flightless bird that romances rocks. Unconventional animals are upending 21st century beauty standards, and financiers are betting on whale poo to make its debut on Wall Street.

This is a story of survival and extinction, of life and death, of curiosity and perversion, of unimaginable joy and harrowing sorrow. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly unfolding mass extinction event, Nature’s Last Dance takes readers across hunting grounds, through jungles and oceans, inside communities, through courtrooms, and into the heart of battles to survive against all odds.