Last Chance to See, Revisited
July 7, 2005 | 2 Comments
Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine wrote a book together called Last Chance to See which was an account of their traveling around the world in the mid-80s searching for greatly endangered species.
I’m a big Douglas Adams fan, I loved the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Soon after finishing that I fell into the Dirk Gently books (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and Long Dark Teatime of the Soul). When Adams died in 2001 I was more saddened by his death more than one would expect in reference to someone I didn’t know personally… I then tore through The Salmon of Doubt when it was released post-humously, finding myself in tears as the book ends suddenly about halfway through his final story. Anyway, Salmon turned me on to other works by Adams, Last Chance and the Liff books.
Adams’ humorous and engaging account drew me into thoughts of extinction and conservation leaving me more concerned about the state of our world’s wildlife than I ever intended. So, with this in mind I decided to research each of the near instinct animals they touch on in their adventures. Clearly a combined update was needed on the status of the animals they visited.
Aye-aye Lemur (Daubentonia Madagascariensis)
Status: Endangered - est 1000 to 10,000 (up from 12 in 1962)
Natural Habitat: Madagascar, island of Nosy Mangabe
Additional Resources:
ARKive
Wikipedia - Aye-aye
Animalinfo.org
Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodensis)
Status: Vulnerable - est. 6,000
Natural Habitat: Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, including the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang and Flores
Additional Resources:
American Museum of Natural History
Wikipedia - Komodo Dragon
San Diego Zoo
Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
Status: Critically Endangered - 380
Natural Habitat: Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa
Additional Resources:
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Informatics International - Dian Fossey Fund info
Classroom of the Future
Wikipedia - Mountain Gorilla
Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni)
Status: Critically Endangered - 15 (down from 32 in 2003)
Natural Habitat: Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo
Additional Resources:
International Rhino Foundation
UNESCO Word Heritage Centre
San Diego Zoo
Wikipedia - White Rhinoceros
BBC News - White rhino numbers are ‘halved’
Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus)
Status: Critically Endangered - 86 (up from 51 in 1995)
Natural Habitat: New Zealand
Additional Resources:
Kakapo Recovery Programme
The Fabulous Kakapo
New Zealand Department of Conservation
Wikipedia - Kakapo
Chinese River Dolphin or Baiji Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
Status: 7 in 1998 (down from 300 in 1986)
Natural Habitat: Yangtze River, China
Additional Resources:
China Internet Information Center - Recovery Effort
Whale Web
CETACEA
Wikipedia - Chinese River Dolphin
Rodrigues fruit-bats (Pteropus rodricensis)
Status: Endangered - est 1500-2000
Natural Habitat: island of Rodrigues (part of Mauritius) off the coast of Madagascar
Additional Resources:
Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
Philadelphia Zoo
Wild Ones Animal Index
Mauritius Island Online
There is more to talk about in reference to Mauritius(dodos, kestrels, pink pigeons, echo parakeets, etc) but I’ll these details until I can devote more space.
For a final note on Last Chance to See, there is a site devoted to the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of the account which is also worth checking out.
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