Last Chance To See: Book Review

Sonia Mitchell has written a review of the original Last Chance To See book, over at PopMatters.com, and I thought it was worth a link if you're still on the fence about reading this terrific book. She gives it an 8/10.

Adams treads a delicate line between making it clear how threatened some of these animals are and staying optimistic as to the future. It’s possibly too late for some of them, but others still hang on, and with increased public awareness perhaps comes an increased chance of survival. Adams’ character portraits of the conservationists in the field are witty and skillful, and leave the reader with some hope that with (often charmingly insane) people like these devoting their lives to these animals there might be a future for some of them.

Titus' Kingdom Dwindles

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund field news for March 2009 reports that Titus, subject of the documentary "Nature: The Gorilla King", has had his group size slashed by over 50% in the last year. It is down to just 8, whereas last year it was as high as 25.

On Jan. 27, another female left his group to join the younger silverback Inshuti, and other changes are occurring as well.
[...]
"As Titus continues to age, we are seeing a natural transition of power in the world of gorillas," says Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program manager at Karisoke.

Video of Kakapo Chicks

TVNZ reports on the hatching of 14 Kakapo chicks and also has a short, but fabulous video report.

Emma Neill from the Department of Conservation is very pleased with the population growth.

"We have doubled the population in a decade, one of the great things about this increase is that it's due to a lot of young birds breeding for the very first time" says Neill.

New Zealand's Stuff's latest article also features a picture of Kakapo Recovery Programme manager Deidre Vercoe with one of the little birds.

Conservation Minister Tim Groser welcomed the news, but warned of a "long road ahead" before the kakapo's future was secure. "But it's a huge milestone for one of the country's favourite birds."

The EarthTimes also covers the story in a little more detail.

Although Codfish Island is predator-free, the new chicks remain vulnerable and will be hand-reared in a specialist unit to ensure their survival until they can be returned to the wild.

Vercoe told Radio New Zealand that passing the 100 mark was a significant milestone, raising hopes that the kakapo population was reaching a sustainable level.

The recovery programme has been a tortuous process as kakapos are not prolific, breeding and laying eggs only every two to four years.

Stephen Fry Arrives in Labuan Bajo... Just!

Stephen Fry has landed in Labuan Bajo, on his way to the final expedition for the Last Chance To See TV series. He only just made it by all accounts. Their final filming target is the Komodo Dragon. Here's a couple of his Tweets...

Storms in KK mean we've been forced to land in Labuan. Only just made it apparently. They carry bare minimum of fuel... Phew.

Still grounded awaiting permission to fly on to KK. Heigh ho.

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14 Kakapo Chicks! 105 and counting!

A major landmark has been reached with this year's astonishing Kakapo breeding season. Lizzy's Diary entry for March 11 reveals that 14 Kakapo chicks have hatched so far, bringing us up to 105 Kakapos! FANTASTIC NEWS, and there's more to come...

Celebrations of the 100th bird took place on March 8 – well, as celebratory as 32 people can get at 5.30pm two bottles of fizzy between them, shortly before carrying a car battery up a hill and spending a wet-windy night eyes glued to ‘kakapo TV’.

Talking to Graeme Elliott, kakapo scientist, it seems that the team has high hopes for the bird’s future. "This marks a milestone in kakapo recovery – the first time the kakapo have been in three figures for 30 years* and the biggest breeding season in the history of the species’ management,” Graeme tells me. He has been working on their recovery for 14 years from a time when numbers were in their low 50s.

Video: Nature's Greatest Moments - Living Fossils

Here's another Joost video, this time about the lemurs of Madagascar.

Last Chance To See Books: Re-issue, and TV Tie-In

Thanks to Dave who points out that the re-issue edition of Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, with a new introduction by Richard Dawkins, will be released on October 1st, 2009.

This new paperback edition by Arrow Books is now available for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk.

Similarly, the TV tie-in book published by Collins, Last Chance to See by Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry is set for release on October 5th.

Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine finished recording the Whales episode of the TV series very recently. Stephen is currently back in New York, playing with his Kindle2. They only have the Komodo Dragon episode left to film in April.