Why do you think animals exist? What purpose do they serve and why do we need them? Wildlife in the Balance is the untold story of how animals are essential for a habitable planet.Earth's function only starts to make sense when you realise that humans are another animal and wildlife conservation is the missing link in ecosystem stability.Today, we're deforesting primary wildlife-rich ecosystems faster than ever, and they are being replaced with regrowth and empty vegetation. But without wildlife, the science simply doesn't add-up - we just haven't worked this out yet.Wildlife in the Balance offers a new perspective, a sly glance from the side, an initial dose of cynicism and preparation to rethink what you may have learnt about concepts like natural selection, evolution, ecosystems and conservation. Things don't quite work like you were taught at school or led to believe by decades of popular science.Immutable laws of nature would see Earth descend into chaos, unfit for human life, if it weren't for the world's colourful and abundant wildlife. Animals turn nature's infinite power back on itself. It's the sheer magnitude of animal impact, the interminable amplification, concentration and transfer of energy and nutrients at every scale, that makes our lives possible.All animals - humans included - constantly dig, break things, construct and recycle. Successful animals communicate with each other to avoid competition, creating harmony between animals and maximising the efficiency of planet-stabilising work.When we take a fresh look at the origin of our own species, we realise this is the reason behind our rise as one of the latest and most successful animals. It's why we must learn from our ancient ancestors and Indigenous relatives.The impact of all animals working together adds up to the services we need to exist on Earth, but we still need a system to network with each other. This is where culture and intelligence comes in. It relates directly to our food security, disease resilience and even our climate.Wildlife protects us from the solar system's violent attacks, cushions us from the storms, gives us air to breathe and stocks Earth's pantry with food to eat.We have eroded these systems and failed to value them to our peril. We may have just a few generations left before the next mass extinction, and that gives us mere decades to do something about it.But protecting animals is a simple, achievable and rewarding objective we can all get behind to secur