In which Douglas Adams, author of [b:The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531891848l/11._SY75_.jpg|3078186] and [b:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency|365|Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554401296l/365._SY75_.jpg|1042123], is escorted by zoologist Mark Carwardine to some remote parts of the world in order to see and report on various endangered species. They visit:

• the aye-aye lemur (Madagascar)

• the man-eating dragon lizard (Komodo, Indonesia)

• the mountain gorilla and northern white rhinoceros (Zaïre)

• the kākāpō flightless parrot (New Zealand)

• the baiji river dolphin (China)

• the Rodrigues fruit bat, Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, and echo parakeet (Mauritius)

What Adams produced at the end of this expedition was a half-humorous, half-serious travel-and-nature book (mainly humorous about the travel, mainly serious about the animals): the sort of thing Gerald Durrell used to write. It’s very readable, amusing in places, and quite interesting. Even if you’re not particularly interested in animals, you can read it as a travel book.

It includes 66 good-quality colour photos illustrating the text: animals, people, and landscape.

Of the species mentioned in the book, according to Wikipedia in 2024 the northern white rhinoceros is now critically endangered (possibly extinct in the wild); the kākāpō flightless parrot is critically endangered; the baiji river dolphin is possibly extinct.

The aye-aye, the Komodo dragon, the mountain gorilla, and the Rodrigues fruit bat are still endangered.

The Mauritius kestrel was reduced to a population of 4 in 1974, but deliberate conservation efforts restored the population to about 400 by 2019. The pink pigeon and echo parakeet have also recovered from critically endangered to merely vulnerable. ( )

Thirty‑plus years ago Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame and Mark Carwardine, a wildlife zoologist and photographer, set out to find some of the rarest creatures on earth before it was too late and document their encounters with them. This book is a result of that expedition. There are touches of the absurd humor and satire in it that Adams was well known for but what stands out is his insightful commentary about the reasons the creatures became endangered in the first place. I had planned to follow this up with Stephen Fry’s 2009 book, Last Chance to See: In the Footsteps of Douglas Adams but now I’m going to wait because I know it will suffer in comparison. ( )

Douglas Adams' inimitable style shines through in a book that's engaging, funny, yet ultimately depressing.

It's interesting because of the exotic locales, the zany characters, and the situations that Adams finds himself in. Even more so, it's the way Adams perceives them that steals the show. His trademark humor shines through every page (well, page turn in my case) that I read.

The animals were easily the stars of the show. Their situations are dire, more so now than ever before. He draws on his experience to educate and offer insight into their plights and the ways we can help them. And it's for that reason the book is depressing: the world is going to hell, and we are to blame for it. :( ( )

Nobody writes like Douglas Adams writes. He's one of the few guys that can have me laughing uproariously while also pondering something deep and important. Or pondering the sad legacy of humans while laughing. Or shaking my head at the sheer stupidity of humans.

That being said, while there are many funny moments in this book, overall, it's heartbreaking book to read. In anyone else's hands, I believe it would have been pleadingly maudlin.

With Adams, instead, it's hopeful.

Nobody writes like Douglas Adams writes. I miss him. ( )

Douglas Adams, the witty author of the hilarious series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, joins forces with zoologist Mark Carwardine to travel around the world. They visit the darkest parts of Africa to the lush island of Mauritius and some places in between to find and photograph animals that are endangered and close to extinction.

The duo visit the elusive silverback gorillas in Zaire and are astonished at how human-like our distance ancestors are, noting one of the apes contemplating life as it lay on the ground looking at a swaying leaf blowing in the wind. They also visit the creepy looking aye-aye, the dangerous Komodo dragon, the chubby flightless Kakapo parrot and the rare northern white rhino. Their travels allows them to also visit other animals as well.

If you are familiar with Douglas Adams then you should be familiar with his witty, sarcastic and his British dry humor. There were parts where I laughed out loud at the adventures these guys would come across as they made there way around the different countries. Other chapters will make you feel guilty and a bit ashamed of what our fellow humans have done in the past concerning the health and safety of our fellow animal friends.

Adams is very descriptive and you can almost feel as if you are right next to him on this journey. I googled some of the animals and while most of them did manage to thrive thanks to the efforts of the hard working conservationists and other groups however one of the species was sadly listed "functionally extinct" which means that if any are left at all, there isn't enough in the population to sustain them for much longer before they are fully gone.

Global warming and the continuous burning of fossil fuels increases the likely-hood that more species may become lost forever unless we can come together and continue to do our part with maintaining the jungles and forests and oceans of our planet. Let's try to not add any more animals to the endangered list and learn from our mistakes! ( )