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BABY GALAXIES • ALTERNATIVES TO EUTHANASIA • MAKING AVIATION SAFER THE 100-YEAR WEATHER FORECAST PREDICTING WHAT A WARMER CLIMATE WILL REALLY MEAN MAY 1997 $4.95 The king of beasts masters the politics of survival Copyright 1997 Scientific American, Inc. Lions seem like the archetypal social animals, working together toward a common goal—such as their next meal. But after many years observing these creatures in the wild, we have a less exalted view. . .. — Craig Packer and Anne E. Pusey, page 52 APRIL 1997 $4.95 Copyright 1997 Scientific American, Inc. The Artist and the Lion’s Tale T STEVE MARTIN he artist behind this month’s cover of Scientific American is Carl Brenders, acclaimed around the world as one of the premier painters of wildlife. The almost photographic realism of his paintings, with its meticulous devotion to anatomical detail, emerges from Brenders’s conservationist philosophy that nature is itself perfect. “That is why I paint the way I do,” he says. “I want to capture that perfection.” Brenders, who was born and trained in art in Belgium, typically begins his work with extensive field research into the habits and habitats of his wildlife subjects. It was while on a trip to the Kalahari Desert in Botswana that he began tracking and gathering information about lions and their environment. Based on his observations, Brenders created a pencil sketch of a lion (shown below) and the Kalahari painting (cover) in watercolors and gouache, using techniques of his own invention. Recently Brenders was honored as the Featured Artist at the 1997 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, S.C. A retrospective exhibition of 30 of his works is now in progress at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pa. (February 1 through May 18). Other examples of his artwork can be fo