Will the 'Alala ever return to the wild? A bird sacred to Hawaiians and a member of the raven family, the 'Alala today survives only in captivity. How the species once flourished, how it has been driven to near-extinction, and how people struggled to save it, is the gripping story of "Seeking the Sacred Raven". For years, author Mark Jerome Walters has tracked the sacred bird's role in Hawaiian culture and the indomitable 'Alala's sad decline. Trekking through Hawaii's rain forests high on Mauna Loa, talking with biologists, landowners, and government officials, he has woven an epic tale of missed opportunities and the best intentions gone awry. A species that once numbered in the thousands is now limited to about 50 captive birds. "Seeking the Sacred Raven" is as much about people and culture as it is about failed policies. From the ancient Polynesians who first settled the island, to Captain Cook in the 18th century, to would-be saviors of the 'Alala in the 1990s, individuals with conflicting passions and priorities have shaped Hawaii and the fate of this dwindling cloud-forest species. Walters captures brilliantly the internecine politics among private landowners, scientists, environmental groups, individuals and government agencies battling over the bird's habitat and protection. It's only one species, only one bird, but "Seeking the Sacred Raven" illustrates vividly the many dimensions of species loss, for the human, as well as non-human world.
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"Author Mark Jerome Walters traces the last-ditch efforts to save the wild alala, revealing the turf wars, bungled science, and, crucially, habitat loss that hastened its decline...It's a lesson that may be learned too late for the alala, but perhaps not for other species on the brink of extinction."--Keith Goetzman"UTNE Reader" (12/01/2006)
About the Author
Trained in veterinary medicine and journalism, Mark Jerome Walters is author of the widely acclaimed books "A Shadow and a Song" and "Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them." A contributing editor of "Orion" magazine, his work has appeared in "Audubon," "Reader's Digest," and numerous other publications. Walters is currently a professor of journalism and media studies at the University of South Florida. He lives on Florida's Gulf Coast.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
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Trouble in Paradise
17 July 2006
By E. Stanley
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Your view of paradise will never be the same! Hawaii, revered as a land of tranquility, in this book becomes the scene of a bitter feud to save a native species of bird, the sacred alala. Invaded by alien species as well as by well-meaning environmentalists, both of which do their share to dim prospects for the bird's long-term survival, paradise begins to look more like the Wild West. Although it has lots of action, the book has moments of profound reflection, where it laments for the terrible human destruction of the islands' natural landscape and thousands of dwindling species whose receding tide no one seems able to stem. A touching and caring book that should be required reading for anyone concerned with environmental conservation.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Saving a species and the natural world
11 Nov 2006
By Michael H. Rosove
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
One might ask what is the importance of a crow whose ancestors reached the island of Hawaii long enough ago that they had time to separate from their close relatives of the genus Corvus. After all, it's still just a blackish crow. And one might ask why someone would trouble to write a well-researched treatise on what appears to be a fairly narrow subject. Words in the book's title hint at the answers: "sacred" and "politics". The `alalâ, as the Hawaiian crow is known, had spiritual significance to ancient Hawaiians, and it became a sacred quest for author Mark Jerome Walters. While human activities were contributing to the bird's progressive march toward extinction, numerous governmental organizations (federal, state, and local) and individuals (land owners, biologists, conservationists) attempting to resuscitate the species came to conflict over just what to do to help it. No one, despite best intentions, has had definitive answers. The species is fastidious in its habitat requirements--it never expanded its range much beyond the moist mountainous region of the southwestern portion of Hawaii, and that habitat has been substantially altered by human activities. The `alalâ is sensitive to nesting disturbance and susceptible to disease and predation. Captive breeding has been a matter of fits and starts, and released captive birds have failed their promise. The few remaining wild birds have been captured, and all `alalâ are now in captivity. But what is the future of a species that no longer knows the wild or its natural survival and breeding tactics, and which may in actuality no longer even have a habitat? While Walters's book concerns one species, impending extinctions are going on all over the world. "Seeking the Sacred Raven" shows us how much knowledge we need--and determination against our own selfish interests--to protect the sacred natural world before it is too late to save it and its remarkable diversity.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended.
5 Nov 2006
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Written by Mark Jerome Walters (Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of South Florida), Seeking The Sacred Raven: Politics and Extinction on a Hawaiian Island is the true story of the ill-fated effort to preserve the wild alala, a type of raven indigenous to Hawaii and venerated as sacred by the native populace - the alala is thought to be a guide that aids the souls of the dead in their journey to the hereafter. Yet as environmental pressures, diseases, and non-native predators decimated the alala population, the most valiant efforts of captive breeding and release programs were insufficient to halt its slow extinction. The problem was not simply population and genetic diversity of the alala, but that there was no safe habitat to release them into - cats, mongoose and hawks would eat them, among other mortal perils. With the deaths and protective recapturing of the last wild alala, the species forever lost the survival knowledge that parent birds had been passing to their chicks, and though approximately fifty captive alala remain, their breeding to survive in captivity rather than survive in the wild is sure to forever change the ecological signature of the species. A disturbing look at shortsighted species conservation efforts, the dire need to protect species by preserving their habitat, and human hubris as it trifles with the sacred. Highly recommended.
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