Hardening Cisco Routers

Colophon

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The animal on the cover of Hardening Cisco Routers is a North African wild ass. This mammal, an ancestor of the domestic donkey, once lived in the Moroccan Atlas Mountain range and possibly through out North Africa. The small population of wild asses is now confined to Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Adapted to arid grasslands, the North African wild ass eats thorny, dry plants and grass. It retreats to rocky areas for shade during the hot, sunny hours of the day and is active in the early morning, at dusk, and at night. The wild ass needs water every two to three days and lives alone or temporarily in small groups of offspring to conserver food and water. Males generally live alone, especially when defending territory that contains sources of water.

The North African wild ass is in grave danger of extinction. Domestication, breeding with domestic animals, hunting, and competition with other animals (including humans) for water has diminished the population to a few hundred. Well-meaning tourist who chase the animals for photographs often exhaust the wild asses to the point of death. The animal is now one of the rarest mammals in the world, despite conservation efforts.

Ann Schirmer was the production editor and proofreader, and Norma ...