From Publishers Weekly
Dian Fossey brought world attention to Rwanda's endangered mountain gorillas in 1978, but the animals have survived largely because of the pioneering work of ecologists Weber and Vedder. Realizing that gorilla conservation was not a priority for a country facing staggering economic and development problems, they persuaded skeptical authorities that a program combining research, ecotourism and education could both protect these majestic primates and generate economy-boosting revenues. Their Mountain Gorilla Project, implemented over Fossey's objections, proved successful, with recent gorilla censuses showing dramatic population increases. Weber and Vedder's fascinating account of their years in Rwanda describes thrilling, sometimes heart-breaking gorilla encounters, and analyzes their painful relationships with Fossey with bracing honesty. But the book's larger, and more complex, subject is conservation in a war-ravaged postcolonial world struggling with increased competition for finite resources. Weber and Vedder ably portray Rwandan society, fraught with ethnic divisions and governmental corruption that not only threatened wildlife conservation but imperiled human safety. Their description of the 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus based on reports from friends still in the country at the time is a chilling reminder that humans, too, are a fragile species. "We can't love animals or save wildlife," Weber and Vedder conclude, "without understanding the social, economic, and political context in which conservation occurs." Though they concede that "complete understanding [of a different culture] is a myth," they argue persuasively for continued efforts to this end. Agent, Gloria Loomis. (Oct. 4)Forecast: If ever a conservation book gets attention, this will be it. The combination of intimate primate portraits; sociopolitical observation; scientific conflict; successful, sustained activism; and intercultural cooperation, with the help of a four-city tour, will attract readers of many stripes.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In 1978 a young American couple traveled to Rwanda to study mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey. The following 23 years brought poachers, Fossey's murder, and the bloody Rwandan genocide, but through it all the gorillas preserved their quiet lives. This exciting chronicle of field research conducted in extremely harsh terrain will open the reader's eyes to the difficulties of science in a wilderness area. Weber and Vedder write evocatively of the discoveries they made, the joys of sitting with the gorillas and observing their behavior, and interactions with their local Rwandan guides and fellow researchers. This is contrasted with their horror at discovering gorillas massacred by poachers. Their candid views of the difficult and neurotic Fossey show the disintegration of a once great scientist and demonstrate why the authors took a different and ultimately successful path in protecting the gorillas. The final chapters, describing the civil war in Rwanda and the resulting slaughter of the Tutsi minority make even more miraculous the fact that all sides during the conflict left the gorillas alone. A marvelously thoughtful account. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
