- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (25 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0810936941
- ISBN-13: 978-0810936942
- Product Dimensions: 29.2 x 26.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
359,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #31 in Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Extinction
- #33 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Animal Sciences > Mammals > Apes & Monkeys
- #45 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Animal Sciences > Extinction & Endangered Species
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› Visit Amazon's Biruté Marija Filomena Galdikas Page
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
More than three decades ago the legendary palaeonthropologist Louis Leakey encouraged a trio of remarkable women scientists--Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas--to study the world's great primates. In her memoir Reflections of Eden, written long after her fellow "trimates" published theirs, Galdikas described her efforts at Camp Leakey to rehabilitate ex-captive orang-utans and release them into the Borneo rainforest nearby.
Those rehabilitation efforts are at the centre of the controversies now swirling around Galdikas and the organisation she helped found, Orang-utan Foundation International. An ongoing debate about the effectiveness of rehabilitation reached fever pitch in the late 1990s with the publication of several articles and books about Galdikas by Canadian novelist Linda Spalding. In A Dark Place in the Jungle Spalding suggests that Galdikas's efforts in the name of conservation may in fact harm wild orang-utan populations. Galdikas herself is characterised as an imperious and careless scientist, which no doubt played a role in Galdikas's decision in July 1999 to sue Spalding for libel.
What then is one to make of this book by Galdikas and her long-time collaborator Nancy Briggs? There is no dispute whatsoever about their primary message: orang-utans are seriously endangered. Palm oil plantations, bush fires and other intense human pressures are destroying millions of acres of orang-utan habitat. The recently deposed Indonesian government of Suharto was notoriously corrupt and adopted policies that led to large-scale deforestation, although its legacy is treated gingerly by Galdikas, who lives there when she isn't teaching at the University of British Columbia. The close-up photographs that accompany their text show orang-utans as full of personality, mischief and devotion as humans. Perhaps, as Spalding suggests, that's part of the problem. It may be too easy to project anthropocentric values onto orang-utans, which, after all, share 97% of their genetic heritage with humans.
It is difficult to judge either case on its merits since the books share similar flaws; neither presents notes or bibliography to document their arguments. The gravely threatened orang-utans deserve as much attention as they can get. --Pete Holloran
Product Description
For more than 25 years, renowned primatologist Birute Galdikas has lived among the orangutans of Borneo, studying their habits, defending them against loggers and poachers, and nurturing their orphaned youngsters.
Now, with this extraordinary pictorial essay, Galdikas brings to life her work with these shy and endangered red apes. Taking readers to her remote rainforest headquarters, Galdikas draws on Karl Ammann's unparalleled photographs to present intimate portraits of the individual orangutans she's come to know and offers rare glimpses of their behavior in the wild.
With an introduction by famed chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall -- who, like Galdikas and Dian Fossey, is a Louis Leakey protegee -- this is a superb and revelatory volume for nature and animal lovers everywhere.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I know what you're thinking - if all I can come up with is interesting it must be boring. Sure, I can come up with plenty of words - funny, brilliant,... the book is those too. It is enchanting, wonderfully presented, and best of all, excellent photographs. This is a good book, if you are interested in wildlife, conservation, or, quite simply, orangutangs, this is a book for you.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I got this book I was worried that it would just be blocks of unreadable imformation. However, it happily proved me wrong; it was an educational, interesting and, in places, humourous book. The author wrote about the ancient myths surrounding orangutans, their social habits, how they rear their young, their diet, the threats surrounding their survival, and how to tackle them. My entire family loved this book ; they wouldn't have got it themselves they say, but are glad that I did. I found it fascinating. This book is an excellent read, especially if you are interested in Nature. 5*. Definately.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If evolution is true, why are there still apes and monkeys???
Well?
:D
Well?
:D
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