Hope for Animals and Their World.
How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink.
by Jane Goodall.
Acknowledgments.
This book was several years in the making, and it could not have been written without the help of many people. Indeed, one of the really great experiences for me during the past few years has been meeting so many extraordinary and dedicated scientists and conservationists. Between them they have accomplished so much, and I have been overwhelmed by their willingness to share their knowledge and to read, correct, and add to the accounts I had written about their projects. Such generosity. I cannot thank them enough.
While writing this book I learned about many wonderful projects from around the world. Unfortunately, when they were all written up, it was obvious that the ma.n.u.script was too long. Even when each story was cut, and cut again, the book was still too long. After much agonizing, it was decided that the only thing we could do was remove whole sections. I still feel devastated that this had to be done, mostly because the people whose projects I was writing about had spent so much time reading their chapters and ensuring that the information was correct-and they were so pleased that the material would be included in the book. I know they will be disappointed and I feel terrible about it.
Our Web Site: However, there is a silver lining. The publishers have agreed to create a Web site that will feature all this material. It will also include the original versions of some chapters that were shortened for the book, as well as many photographs we gathered. I encourage everyone to visit the Web site and learn about the wonderful projects described there. You will also find my complete acknowledgments that had to be condensed for this book. However, there is a silver lining. The publishers have agreed to create a Web site that will feature all this material. It will also include the original versions of some chapters that were shortened for the book, as well as many photographs we gathered. I encourage everyone to visit the Web site and learn about the wonderful projects described there. You will also find my complete acknowledgments that had to be condensed for this book.
As I said, without the help and ongoing cooperation of the people profiled in these pages, this book would never have been possible. You will find their names and heroic stories in the chapters to come. I would also like to thank the following people, who helped us tremendously but whose names you won"t find in the pages ahead: Mark Bain (short-nosed sturgeon), Ann M. Burke (whooping crane), Phil Bishop (Hamilton frog), Pat Bowles (Caspian horse), Jane Chandler (whooping crane), Glenn Fraser (woodhen), Rod Gritten (glutinous snail), Nancy Haley (short-nosed sturgeon), Kirk Hart (short-tailed albatross), Diane Hendry (red wolf), Dave Jarvis (pedder galaxias), Tom Koerner and Dan Miller (trumpeter swan), Bill Lautenbach (Sudbury, Ontario), Alfonso Aguirre Munoz (Guadalupe Island), Mark Stanley Price (Arabian oryx), Ken Reininger (nene), Ruth Shea (trumpeter swan), Amy Sprunger (moapa dace), John Thorbjarnarson (Chinese alligator), Mike Wallace (California condor), Jake Wickerham (pedder galaxias), and Stephen S. Young (Cao Hai Nature Reserve).
I am really grateful to Don Merton. He has helped us with so many chapters in this book: The utterly fascinating story of the kakapo, New Zealand"s large flightless parrot, will appear on our Web site. And I thank Nicholas Carlile for his enormous help in reviewing several of the stories in this book. His contribution to rescuing the Gould"s petrel will also appear on our Web site.
The following people provided me with information about heroic efforts to save our endangered plant species: PeterRaven, Hugh Bollinger, Nick Johnson, Lourdes "Lulu" Rico Arce, Michael Park, Tim Rich, Bill Brumback, Jo Meyerkord, Kathryn Kennedy, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. You will find their stories and contributions on our Web site. In particular, Victoria Wilman and Robert Robichaux sent me so much helpful information, as did Paul Scannell and Andrew Pritchard, who also met with me in Australia.
Another whole section that we couldn"t fit into the book but will appear on our Web site is about how the general public and our youth are helping to save endangered species. It describes fabulous stories of how an endangered species can halt developments: Greg Ballmer told me about the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, and I learned about the Salt Creek tiger beetle from Stephen Spomer, Leon Higley, Mitch Paine, and Jessa Huebing-Reitinger. Matt and Ann Magoffin are helping to save the Chirakua leopard frog, and Meredith Dreifus and her family are helping the red-c.o.c.kaded woodp.e.c.k.e.r. Information for the Roots & Shoots section was provided by Chase Pickering, Tony Liu, and Dan Fulton. I was also helped by Susan and Alexandra Morris and Tim c.o.o.nan, who have worked for many years to protect the Channel Island fox.
Thane Maynard: I was extremely fortunate to meet with and interview a wide and fiercely bright cast of characters in the process of developing this book. Each of these scientists and conservationists has stood in the gap when it mattered most for these species. I would like to acknowledge the following people who helped me gather my Field Notes but whose stories and names do not appear in these pages. All of these people and stories will be featured on our Web site: w.a.n.gari Mathaai and her staff from the Greenbelt Movement; Kent Vliet (the American alligator); Pete Dunne (bald eagle); Rick McIntyre (gray wolf); Clay Degayner (Key Largo woodrat); Ron Austing (Kirtland"s warbler); Scott Eckert (leatherback sea turtle); Greg Neudecker (trumpeter swan); Geoff Hill (ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r); Roger Payne (Pacific gray whale); Greg Sherley (weta of New Zealand); and Michael Samways (South African dragonflies). Naturally I want to thank my wife, Kathleen, for all her help and support through the years I worked on this book. My thanks go as well to the remarkable staff at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, who earn their stripes inspiring every zoo visitor with wildlife every day. I was extremely fortunate to meet with and interview a wide and fiercely bright cast of characters in the process of developing this book. Each of these scientists and conservationists has stood in the gap when it mattered most for these species. I would like to acknowledge the following people who helped me gather my Field Notes but whose stories and names do not appear in these pages. All of these people and stories will be featured on our Web site: w.a.n.gari Mathaai and her staff from the Greenbelt Movement; Kent Vliet (the American alligator); Pete Dunne (bald eagle); Rick McIntyre (gray wolf); Clay Degayner (Key Largo woodrat); Ron Austing (Kirtland"s warbler); Scott Eckert (leatherback sea turtle); Greg Neudecker (trumpeter swan); Geoff Hill (ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r); Roger Payne (Pacific gray whale); Greg Sherley (weta of New Zealand); and Michael Samways (South African dragonflies). Naturally I want to thank my wife, Kathleen, for all her help and support through the years I worked on this book. My thanks go as well to the remarkable staff at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, who earn their stripes inspiring every zoo visitor with wildlife every day.
Photography: All the photographs that you see in this book and on our Web site were donated to us by the photographers. We are deeply grateful to all of them for their generosity and support. You will find their names in the photo credits, alongside their photographs. In many cases the heroes we profiled a.s.sisted us in finding photographs, but we also want to thank and acknowledge the following people who helped us acquire photos: Shalese Murray, Andrew Bennet, JoGayle Howard, Gary Fry, Fr. Ed Udovic, C.M., James Popham, Ann Burke, Christina Anderson, Douglas W. Smith, Antonio Rivas, Christina Simmons, Caron Glover, Penny Haworth, Vanessa Dinning, Stephen Monet, Jesse Grantham, Liz Condie, David van Berkel, and Rob Robichaux. All the photographs that you see in this book and on our Web site were donated to us by the photographers. We are deeply grateful to all of them for their generosity and support. You will find their names in the photo credits, alongside their photographs. In many cases the heroes we profiled a.s.sisted us in finding photographs, but we also want to thank and acknowledge the following people who helped us acquire photos: Shalese Murray, Andrew Bennet, JoGayle Howard, Gary Fry, Fr. Ed Udovic, C.M., James Popham, Ann Burke, Christina Anderson, Douglas W. Smith, Antonio Rivas, Christina Simmons, Caron Glover, Penny Haworth, Vanessa Dinning, Stephen Monet, Jesse Grantham, Liz Condie, David van Berkel, and Rob Robichaux.
JGI and Worldwide Helpers: Throughout the writing of this book, and our search for information and photographs, the following staff members from our different JGI offices around the world were extraordinarily helpful: Federico Bogdanowicz, Ferran Guallar, David Lefrance, Jeroen Haijtink, Polly Cevallos, Kelly Kok, Walter Inmann, Gudrun Schindler, Melissa Tauber, Claire Quarrendon, Anthony Collins, Grace Gobbo, Jane Lawton, Sophie Muset, Erika Helms, Zhang Zh, Michael Crook, and Greg MacIsaac. Throughout the writing of this book, and our search for information and photographs, the following staff members from our different JGI offices around the world were extraordinarily helpful: Federico Bogdanowicz, Ferran Guallar, David Lefrance, Jeroen Haijtink, Polly Cevallos, Kelly Kok, Walter Inmann, Gudrun Schindler, Melissa Tauber, Claire Quarrendon, Anthony Collins, Grace Gobbo, Jane Lawton, Sophie Muset, Erika Helms, Zhang Zh, Michael Crook, and Greg MacIsaac.
I wish there was s.p.a.ce to thank every one of our JGI staff members on the TACARE restoration program around the Gombe National Park. But I must mention Emmanuel Mt.i.ti, Mary Mavanza, Aristedes Kashula, and Amani Kingu, who helped us with the material that appears here and on our Web site.
In the early stages of the book JGI volunteer Joy Hotchkiss helped with research and preliminary interviews, and Sally Eddows developed products featuring endangered species that will help to promote the book. We are extremely grateful to Mary Paris, who edited all the photos that appear in the book and on our Web site. And Meredith Bailey, editorial a.s.sistant to Gail, helped us with the "What You Can Do" section, as did Claire Jones of JGI.
I am filled with grat.i.tude to the staff of the Global Office of the Founder (GOOF). In particular, Rob Sa.s.sor contacted a great many people during the first few years of the book, interviewing them and providing me with information; he was really enthused by this project, and his help was invaluable. Stephen Ham, who stepped into Rob"s position, also helped to contact scientists and organize meetings. Susana Name, who helps to manage my hectic schedule, somehow arranged to fit in meetings with scientists involved in rescuing some of the species discussed in this book.
There is absolutely no way that the photographs for this book could have been gathered from farflung corners of the globe, organized, and evaluated without the dedicated, detailed, and persistent efforts of Christin Jones. She never gave up on getting an image. She was terrific to work with. And she was indefatigable-even major surgery could not, for long, keep her from putting the last photos in order. What a hero!
Gail Hudson: Many thanks to my agent, Mary Ann Naples of the Creative Culture, for her outstanding support and guidance. And I am especially grateful to my husband, Hal, daughter, Gabrielle, and son, Tennessee, who always support my work in the world. Many thanks to my agent, Mary Ann Naples of the Creative Culture, for her outstanding support and guidance. And I am especially grateful to my husband, Hal, daughter, Gabrielle, and son, Tennessee, who always support my work in the world.
Grand Central: We owe a huge debt of grat.i.tude to the staff at Grand Central, people who were supportive and understanding throughout the years of making this book. Editor Natalie Kaire stayed in close contact with us and went through the original long version of the book a few times, helping us make tough decisions about what should be cut, from both text and photographs. Managing editor Robert Castillo took good care of the copyediting while respecting my voice. In particular, I am grateful to executive vice president and publisher Jamie Raab for creating a Web site for the book and allowing us to use far more photographs than originally planned. She has been by my side through several books and been a real support and friend. We owe a huge debt of grat.i.tude to the staff at Grand Central, people who were supportive and understanding throughout the years of making this book. Editor Natalie Kaire stayed in close contact with us and went through the original long version of the book a few times, helping us make tough decisions about what should be cut, from both text and photographs. Managing editor Robert Castillo took good care of the copyediting while respecting my voice. In particular, I am grateful to executive vice president and publisher Jamie Raab for creating a Web site for the book and allowing us to use far more photographs than originally planned. She has been by my side through several books and been a real support and friend.
Friends and Family: As I travel around the world I am supported-and often nurtured-by wonderful friends. I cannot thank them all-there are too many. ButI have special words of grat.i.tude for Michael Neugebauer and Tom Mangelsen. Tom has not only provided magnificent photographs but also introduced me to Ernie Kuyt and to the team that saved the black-footed ferret from extinction. I truly value the hours Tom and I have spent discussing endangered species and conservation, and enjoying the beauty of the wild places. You can see his amazing photography at As I travel around the world I am supported-and often nurtured-by wonderful friends. I cannot thank them all-there are too many. ButI have special words of grat.i.tude for Michael Neugebauer and Tom Mangelsen. Tom has not only provided magnificent photographs but also introduced me to Ernie Kuyt and to the team that saved the black-footed ferret from extinction. I truly value the hours Tom and I have spent discussing endangered species and conservation, and enjoying the beauty of the wild places. You can see his amazing photography at www.mangelsen.com.
I could never have gotten through the months and years of writing this book without Mary Lewis, staunch companion of the road. Mary was the master coordinator of my crazy schedule, working miracles to ensure I got to fly with the cranes, spend the night with the ferrets, and meet the countless heroes described in Hope for Animals and Their World. Hope for Animals and Their World. And then, of course, there is her sense of humor. What a friend she is. It is sad she is not here as I type the last words of this marathon, but recovering from hip replacement surgery in the UK. And then, of course, there is her sense of humor. What a friend she is. It is sad she is not here as I type the last words of this marathon, but recovering from hip replacement surgery in the UK.
My crazy schedule and the need to spend all free moments wedded to the book has meant that I had less time than usual for my son and grandchildren. I thank them for their understanding. And a very special thank-you to my very special sister, Judy. If she wasn"t there in the Birches I would have had no bolt hole in which to hide and to write, between trips around the globe. Judy, with her quiet common sense and strong support, was my anchor in the storm.
Foreword.
JANE"S F FEATHER.
By Thane Maynard
The idea for a book of hopeful stories about wildlife was launched on an autumn evening in 2002. In the middle of a public lecture at a sold-out basketball arena, Jane stepped away from the podium and said her cla.s.sic line, "Let me tell you a story ..."
Reaching behind the podium, Jane slowly pulled out the largest feather I"d ever seen; indeed, one of the largest feathers in the world. It was a primary feather from a California condor, the most endangered animal in America. She told the enthralled gathering that she carried it with her for inspiration because it reminded her not that magnificent creatures were disappearing-as is so often reported, even to children-but instead that many species are coming back from the brink of extinction. Thanks to the hard work of a great spectrum of experts, activists, students, and enthusiasts, the California condor is flying again.
When her lecture was through, Jane walked up the stairs through the cheering crowd with the feather held aloft like the symbol of a tribal chief. Indeed, in that moment on such a fair fall night, we six thousand gathered there were a tribe united to care for wildlife and the natural world around us. After all, we had learned, such diversity is what holds the earth steady.
This book is a starting point to share the hope of such a dream. A dream in which caring people of all ages, from all over the world and all walks of life, show that it is possible to help, rather than harm, the rest of the world around us. For it is not counter to human nature to be hopeful. In fact, it is quite the opposite-it is essential to our nature.
People are as persevering as gray squirrels after a bird feeder and as tenacious as the termites who rebuild the topsoil on the forest floor. And just as nature has evolved to be nearly immeasurably resilient, filling in gaps created by storms, disease, and other calamities, so have human beings, both as individuals and as cultures, proven the ability to come back from disaster time and again. This is perhaps our greatest strength. As British author John Gardner put it, "We are at our best when the way is steep."
I really have no idea why Jane and I are so disproportionately buoyant in such a time of loss. I"ve even been called "a public nuisance" because my NPR radio broadcasts, Field Notes with Thane Maynard Field Notes with Thane Maynard and and The 90-Second Naturalist, The 90-Second Naturalist, promote a sense of wonder about nature rather than a sense of gloom. And while I know that we live lives of unprecedented destruction, I am blessed to also know many great people effectively working (and most of them quietly) to save what they can. To me they are like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, carrying on with their miracles that many others believe impossible. promote a sense of wonder about nature rather than a sense of gloom. And while I know that we live lives of unprecedented destruction, I am blessed to also know many great people effectively working (and most of them quietly) to save what they can. To me they are like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, carrying on with their miracles that many others believe impossible.
It is this same sort of pa.s.sion that is represented in nearly every effective conservationist I have ever known. While the naysayers stand by wheezing and huffing and puffing about how "this will never work," or "it"s too late to save this species or habitat," or "be practical, we have to compromise with the developers," it is the truly pa.s.sionate conservationists who never never give up. They are empowered by the hard work. You can see it in their eyes. give up. They are empowered by the hard work. You can see it in their eyes.
Maybe I"m also optimistic because in many countries, I find a growing sense of pride in their flagship species and their natural heritage. Just as importantly, there is a sense that they have a reason to protect what is still there. Not only because it is good for tourism or foreign exchange, but also because it is important to them and their children.
So today, when we live in an age of terrible loss all around us, rather than sadness for what we"ve done, it is essential that we express hope for what can be done. In order to do that, we need guiding lights-role models-who can light the way. For there are thousands of success stories of wild animals and plants that are making a comeback. And of people who are helping to protect the natural world we depend upon. They are, as Martin Luther King described himself in his self-scribed eulogy, "drum majors" for wildlife conservation.
And speaking of role models, it"s worth noting that while we were pulling together this collection of conservation success stories, almost every conservationist we talked with harked back to the key role Jane"s early work had in shaping their careers. Some mentioned the 1960s cover stories in National Geographic National Geographic magazine. Others referenced the early TV specials about her life among the wild chimpanzees. And almost everyone spoke of the direct impact of Jane"s seminal research chronicled in her 1971 book, magazine. Others referenced the early TV specials about her life among the wild chimpanzees. And almost everyone spoke of the direct impact of Jane"s seminal research chronicled in her 1971 book, In the Shadow of Man In the Shadow of Man. The significance of her first book to these modern-day conservationists encompa.s.sed much more than just Jane"s scientific accomplishments.
As Dr. David Hamburg, of the Stanford University School of Medicine, wrote in the original forward to In the Shadow of Man, In the Shadow of Man, "Once in a generation, there occurs a piece of research that changes man"s view of himself. The reader of this book has the privilege of sharing such an experience." "Once in a generation, there occurs a piece of research that changes man"s view of himself. The reader of this book has the privilege of sharing such an experience."
At the time, of course, he was marveling at Jane"s remarkable discoveries in chimpanzee behavior. However, her long-term study of wildlife, the first of its kind, also changed the way men and women viewed the possibilities of their own lives and careers. For there is not a "field biologist," as the new parlance goes, who does not owe a debt to the inspiration of Jane Goodall.
And now, nearly half a century in, Jane"s ongoing work has motivated two two generations of researchers and conservationists, including the people in this book working tirelessly to save wildlife. This group covers a wide spectrum. Some were educated at the best universities in the world. Others are largely self-taught through a lifetime of working with animals. Most are broke, since n.o.body goes into protecting wildlife for the money or vacation time. Group members span from their twenties to their seventies in age; some of them are politically savvy, and others are obstinate. But they share two things in common: They refuse to give up or take no for an answer, and they recognize that Jane Goodall authentically understands the relationship that is essential between wildlife and humans. generations of researchers and conservationists, including the people in this book working tirelessly to save wildlife. This group covers a wide spectrum. Some were educated at the best universities in the world. Others are largely self-taught through a lifetime of working with animals. Most are broke, since n.o.body goes into protecting wildlife for the money or vacation time. Group members span from their twenties to their seventies in age; some of them are politically savvy, and others are obstinate. But they share two things in common: They refuse to give up or take no for an answer, and they recognize that Jane Goodall authentically understands the relationship that is essential between wildlife and humans.
These are their stories.
Introduction.
I am writing this from my home in Bournemouth, England. I grew up in this house, and as I look out my window I can see the very same trees I climbed as a child. Up high in those trees I believed I was closer to the birds and the sky, more a part of nature. Even as a very young child, I felt most alive in the natural world, and almost every book I read-borrowed from the local library-was about animals and adventures in wild untamed places in the world. I began with the stories about Doctor Dolittle, that English doctor who was taught animal languages by his parrot. Then I discovered the books about Tarzan of the Apes. Those two books inspired a seemingly impossible dream-I would go to Africa one day and live with animals and write books about them. am writing this from my home in Bournemouth, England. I grew up in this house, and as I look out my window I can see the very same trees I climbed as a child. Up high in those trees I believed I was closer to the birds and the sky, more a part of nature. Even as a very young child, I felt most alive in the natural world, and almost every book I read-borrowed from the local library-was about animals and adventures in wild untamed places in the world. I began with the stories about Doctor Dolittle, that English doctor who was taught animal languages by his parrot. Then I discovered the books about Tarzan of the Apes. Those two books inspired a seemingly impossible dream-I would go to Africa one day and live with animals and write books about them.
Perhaps the volume that influenced me most was called The Miracle of Life The Miracle of Life. I spent hours poring over the small print of those magical pages. It was not a book written for children, but I was absolutely absorbed as I learned about the diversity of life on earth, the age of the dinosaurs, evolution and Charles Darwin, the early explorers and naturalists-and the amazing variety and adaptations of the animals around the world. And so, as I grew older and learned more and more, my love of animals broadened from my hamster, slow worm, guinea pigs, cats, and dogs, to a fascination for all the amazing animals I read about in those books. There was no television when I was young: I learned everything from books-and nature.
My childhood dream was realized when I was invited to Kenya by a school friend. I set off when I was twenty-six years old, after working as a waitress to save the fare. I went by boat because it was cheapest, calling in at places I had read about such as Cape Town and Durban, and finally arriving in Mombasa. For me it was especially exciting to arrive at the Canary Islands-for Doctor Dolittle had been there, too! What adventure, back then, for a young woman traveling alone.
Once I reached Kenya, my love of animals led me to Louis Leakey, who eventually entrusted me with the task of uncovering the secrets of the behavior of the animal most like us. (Quite extraordinary when you consider I had no degree and back then girls did not do that sort of thing!) That study of chimpanzees, in Tanzania"s Gombe National Park, has lasted for half a century and helped us understand, among other things, more about our own evolutionary history. It has taught us that the similarities in biology and behavior between chimpanzees and humans are far greater than anyone had supposed. We are not, after all, the only beings with personalities, rational thought, and emotions. There is no sharp line dividing us from the chimpanzees and the other apes, and the differences that obviously exist are of degree, not of kind. This understanding gives us new respect not only for chimpanzees, but also for all the other amazing animals with whom we share this planet. For we humans are a part of, and not separate from, the animal kingdom.
We are still studying the chimpanzees of Gombe, and I might well have stayed there, with the animals and forests I love, if I had not attended a conference called Understanding Chimpanzees. It was that conference, in 1986, that changed the course of my life. Field researchers from all the study sites across Africa came together for the first time. There was one session on conservation that was utterly shocking. Right across their range, the chimpanzees" forests were being felled at a horrifying rate, they were being caught in poachers" snares, and the so-called bushmeat trade-the commercial commercial hunting of wild animals for food-had begun. Chimpanzee numbers had plummeted since I began my study in 1960, from somewhere over a million to an estimated four to five hundred thousand (it is much less now). hunting of wild animals for food-had begun. Chimpanzee numbers had plummeted since I began my study in 1960, from somewhere over a million to an estimated four to five hundred thousand (it is much less now).
It was a wake-up call for me. I went to the conference as a scientist, planning to continue working in the field, a.n.a.lyzing and publishing my data. I left as an advocate for the chimpanzees and their vanishing forest home. I knew that to try to help the chimpanzees, I must leave the field and do my best to try to raise awareness and hope that we could start to halt at least some of the destruction. And so, after spending twenty-six years of my life doing what I loved best in the place I loved best, I took to the road. And the more I traveled around the world, giving lectures, attending conferences, meeting with conservationists and legislators, the more I realized the extent of the devastation we are wreaking on our planet. It was not just the forests harboring chimpanzees and other African animals that were endangered-it was forests and animals everywhere. And not only forests, but all of the natural world.
Life on the road is hard. Since 1986, I have traveled some three hundred days a year. From America and Europe to Africa and Asia. From airport to hotel to lecture venue; from schoolroom to corporate conference room to government offices. But there are some perks along the way. I get to visit some incredible places. And I get to meet some truly wonderful and inspirational people. And I hear, among all the terrible news of the ongoing destruction of the natural world, some stories of people who have prevented the felling of an old-growth forest, stopped the building of a dam, succeeded in restoring a despoiled wetlands, saved a species from extinction.
Even so, evidence is mounting of a sixth extinction-this time caused by human actions. To keep up my spirits when I was tired and things seemed extra-bleak, I made a collection of what I call my "symbols of hope." Many ill.u.s.trate the resilience of nature-such as a leaf from a tree found in Australia, previously known only from fossil imprints on rocks. A tree that has survived seventeen ice ages and is still alive and well in a hidden canyon in the Blue Mountains. A feather from a peregrine falcon that was flying again in an area where it had been locally extinct for a hundred years and another from a California condor, a species rescued from the brink of extinction. This was what caught Thane"s attention when I was lecturing at the zoo in Cincinnati. He said I should write up those stories. I told him I intended to-but there was so little time. He said he would help. Thane is a kindred spirit. He, too, is filled with optimism for our future.
Clearly this is a very different book from the slender volume originally planned. I kept meeting amazing people who had done amazing work to prevent animals from becoming extinct. And I met them all over the world. How could I write about the California condor and not the whooping crane? And what about the giant panda, symbol of conservation? Then, somehow, word got out that we were writing this book and information flooded in-why were we not including insects? Amphibians? Reptiles? And surely the plant kingdom was important, too?
And so the book grew, not only in volume, but also in concept. It seemed so important to discuss some of the species believed extinct that have been rediscovered-sometimes more than a hundred years after they had been written off. And to write about the wonderful work being done to restore and protect habitats. I found that people got really excited about the idea of sharing the good news, shining a light on all the projects, large and small, that together are gradually healing some of the harm we have inflicted. It has been several years in the making, this book, and it has taken me on a fantastic journey of exploration: I have learned ever more about animal and plant species brought to the brink of extinction by human activities and then-sometimes at the very last minute and against all odds-been given a reprieve. The stories shared here ill.u.s.trate the resilience of nature, and the persistence and determination of the men and women who fight-sometimes for decades-to save the last survivors of a species, refusing to give up.
There is Old Blue, at one time the very last female black robin in the world who, with the help of an inspired biologist, saved her species from extinction. There is the individual tree, the very last of its kind, that, having been almost eaten to death by browsing goats, was killed by a forest fire-yet found the energy to produce seeds on its last living branch. With the help of inspired horticulturists, the species sprang back, like the phoenix, from the ashes.
It is these and many other human and other-than-human heroes that you will meet in the following chapters. There are tales of adventure and high courage, as biologists risk their lives to climb sheer rock faces or leap from wildly tossing boats onto jagged rocks, and pilots maneuver helicopters through forbidding landscapes in terrible weather. There are stories of men and women brought close to despair as they battled bureaucracies to try to save a species from extinction, knowing that delay caused by human obstinacy was lessening their chances of success with each pa.s.sing day. There is an account of a man trying to persuade a falcon to copulate with his hat and another who mimics the courtship dance of a crane to persuade her to lay an egg.
Many of the rescue programs are ongoing even as we write. New generations of whooping cranes and northern black ibises are still being taught new migration routes, led by human devotees in flying machines. New breeding and release techniques for giant pandas, and better protection of wild habitat, offer hope for their future in China, but there is a long way to go. The plight of the Asian vultures that died in their hundreds of thousands from non-intentional poisoning is being addressed through captive breeding and "Vulture Restaurants" in the wild, but there is much, much work to do.
We realize that there are countless other programs going on around the world to conserve existing populations of animals and plants. But we had to pick and choose, and we included mainly stories that we knew about, firsthand. I wish we could include the efforts of the pioneer conservationists, such as Theodore Roosevelt, who established the first national parks and reserves for the protection of wilderness areas.
Or write about the farsighted people who worked to protect the last of the beavers from an industry desperate to plunder their pelts for the making of hats. There are many who have fought to save other mammal and bird species from extinction because of our insatiable desire to bedeck ourselves with their skins, furs, and feathers. Koala bears might no longer be with us but for those who realized, back in the 1800s, that they would soon be gone if steps were not taken to save their eucalyptus forests. Indeed, there are countless species not even cla.s.sified as endangered today that might well have become extinct were it not for caring people who protected them long ago. To those early pioneers in conservation we owe a great deal.
In October 2008 in Barcelona, Spain, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released results of a global survey of mammal populations. It concluded that "at least a quarter of mammal species are headed toward extinction in the near future." And tragically, for many, there may be little that can be done. Yet I have been so inspired by the stories included in this book and by the people who refuse to give up.
There is an old maxim: "While there is life, there is hope." For the sake of our children we must not give up, we must continue to fight to save what is left and restore that which is despoiled. We must support those valiant men and women who are out there doing just that. And it is important for us to realize that we cannot relax our efforts on behalf of endangered animals-for the threats to their survival are ever present, often growing. Human population growth, unsustainable lifestyles, desperate poverty, shrinking water supplies, corporate greed, global climate change-all these and more will, unless we are vigilant, undo all that has been accomplished.
It is inevitable that more and more species will need a helping hand if they are to continue to share the planet with us. So it is fortunate that increasing numbers of people are waking up, becoming aware of the damage we are inflicting on the web of life, and wanting to do their bit to help, whether as wildlife biologists, government officials, or concerned citizens.
One thing is certain-my own journey of exploration will not stop. I shall go on collecting stories, meeting and talking with more extraordinary and inspirational people. There are many to whom I have only spoken on the telephone, but now I want to meet them: I want to look into their eyes to see the spirit of determination that keeps them going, and look into their hearts to glimpse the love for the species or the natural world that takes them to lonely, all-but-inaccessible places. And I want to share their stories with young people around the world. I want them to know that, even when our mindless activities have almost entirely destroyed some ecosystem or driven a species to the brink of extinction, we must not give up. Thanks to the resilience of nature, and the indomitable human spirit, there is still hope. Hope for animals and their world. And it is our world, too.
-Jane Goodall, February 2009
PART 1
Lost in the Wild
Introduction.
Children are fascinated by dinosaurs. I used to imagine myself transported into the past, my imagination stimulated by Jules Verne"s Journey to the Center of the Earth Journey to the Center of the Earth. In my mind I would roam those ancient landscapes with the giant vegetarian brontosaurus, unharmed by the mighty tyrannosaur. I loved, too, mind-walking in the older world of the giant amphibians, that watery realm of swamps and huge ferns. And sometimes I dreamed of watching woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. But they were gone, and I had no time capsule. And there were no marvels of technology to re-create those creatures of long ago-as did the extraordinary BBC TV series Walking with Dinosaurs Walking with Dinosaurs.
And then I learned, from one of my books, about the dodo. That extinction was very different from the loss of the dinosaurs. The dodo (and countless others) would still have been around, I discovered, but for modern h.o.m.o sapiens h.o.m.o sapiens. Of course, our Stone Age ancestors had hunted and killed animals. I would later see evidence of this when I worked with Louis Leakey in Olduvai Gorge. But it was hard work for them with only their primitive stone tools. Moreover, the prey animals in Africa had evolved along with the predators that hunted them, and had developed myriad ways to escape being killed. How different when Captain Cook and his sailors killed the unsuspecting flightless dodos, feeling safe on their island with no instinct for flight-and so they were eaten to extinction.
When I was a child, more than seventy years ago, there was no television and no Internet to trap me in front of electronic screens. Instead I spent hours watching birds and insects in our garden, and reading books. Back then most of the animals that are so endangered today lived safely in as-yet-unlogged forests, undrained wetlands, and unpolluted fields and oceans. Yet even then, of course, large-scale slaughter of wildlife was taking place. The American bison herds were being decimated, wolves were being exterminated, and animals in their hundreds of thousands were being trapped and killed for their skins, their fur, their feathers-and for specimens to stuff for natural history museums. Big-game hunters were "bagging" and bragging about trophies. And pa.s.senger pigeons were hunted to extinction. For the most part, no one thought much about any of that, and anyway nature"s natural resources, to most people, seemed inexhaustible.
But gradually our human populations have grown, and the destruction of the natural world has intensified. One after the other, more and more of the extraordinarily varied life-forms of our planet have joined the dodo and the pa.s.senger pigeon. Mostly they are small creatures and plants, often endemic to a particular area of rain forest or other habitat that has been destroyed. But fish and birds have gone as well. And Miss Waldron"s red colobus was p.r.o.nounced extinct in Ghana at the end of the last century. So much has gone even during the seventy-five years since I was born.
Will a nature-loving child born seventy-five years from now long to see a live elephant as I longed to see a woolly mammoth? Will she wish desperately for a time machine in order to experience a real rain forest and watch orangutans and tigers? Will she yearn to know a lost and mysterious deep-sea world of the great whales? And if, in seventy-five years, these animals exist only in digital libraries or as dusty museum specimens, how will she feel?
When I was a young girl, it was possible for me to forgive Captain Cook and the people of his era, for they had no idea of the direction we were heading (though they were unknowingly mapping out the path of the future). But at that time, the world was largely unexplored, its wonders undiscovered-and there were far fewer human beings. Still, if a child seventy-five years from now finds that most animals have gone from the earth, she will not be able to excuse the behavior of those who destroyed them. For she will know that they were lost not from a position of ignorance, but because the majority of humans simply did not care.
Fortunately, some people do care a great deal, and sometimes heroic efforts are being made to save and conserve threatened and endangered species. But for them, the list of extinct animals today would be much longer. I have been privileged to meet many of them, and in this book I look forward to introducing as many as I can, along with the animals, plants, and habitats to which they have devoted their lives.
The stories we are sharing in the first two parts show how complicated a business this conservation of wildlife is. For it is necessary to integrate research, protection in the wild, habitat restoration, captive breeding, and raising awareness in the local population. And there are restrictions-everything must be undertaken under the watchful eyes of government authorities. Also, it is inevitable that when pa.s.sionate people with different perspectives try to work together, differences of opinion arise, and these opinions will be hotly defended-and although, through discussion and compromise, agreement will usually be reached, a good deal of time and effort may be wasted along the way. In the best-case scenario, organizations working to protect an animal and its environment cooperate for the good of the species, and the public volunteers its help.
Part 1 tells the stories of six mammal and bird species that actually became extinct in the wild. They were saved only through captive breeding with the goal of returning their progeny to the wild once their numbers had increased and areas of habitat had been set aside for their lasting protection. But the issue of captive breeding was-and still is-highly controversial. There are objections to such projects from those who feel last-minute solutions will not work, and are a waste of time and above all money. Fortunately the pa.s.sionate biologists who worked to save the six species in this section refused to listen to them.
I have fallen in love with black-footed ferrets. Tiny in size, mighty in courage, and utterly enchanting, they have been brought back from the brink of extinction by a team of dedicated and inspired biologists. For in the brilliant emerald of the ferret"s nighttime eyes lies hope for the future of the great North American prairies. (Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian National Zoo) (Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian National Zoo)
Black-Footed Ferret
(Mustela nigripes)
In the Lakota culture, the black-footed ferret is called itopta sapa itopta sapa: ite ite-face, opta opta-across, sapa sapa-black. The Lakota admired itopta sapa itopta sapa for its cunning and elusiveness and held it sacred. Creatures that were hard to kill, like for its cunning and elusiveness and held it sacred. Creatures that were hard to kill, like itopta sapa, itopta sapa, were thought to be protected by the earth power and the thunder beings. Today the Lakota still consider this ferret sacred. were thought to be protected by the earth power and the thunder beings. Today the Lakota still consider this ferret sacred.
At one time, short- and mixed-gra.s.s prairies, home to the black-footed ferret, covered nearly one-third of North America, from Canada to Mexico. This vast area was also home to the great bison herds as well as the prairie dogs that lived in huge colonies, and provided food and homes for the ferrets, who lived in their burrows.
When Europeans arrived in North America, things began to change. Human developments transformed the prairies, so that more and more prairie dog habitat was destroyed, and the ranchers began their ongoing campaign to poison as many as possible. They maintained that the rodents competed with their livestock for gra.s.s and that their burrows would cause broken legs. By 1960, using the most conservative calculations, prairie dogs had lost some 98 percent of the land they had once occupied. New diseases were also brought to the prairies: Sylvatic plague, for example, entered North America around the turn of the century and is having a devastating impact on prairie dog towns to this day.
Prairie dogs, being rodents, can quickly bounce back from a population decline, but not so black-footed ferrets. They are predators with a naturally low population that is spread out over a wide area. As their numbers declined, it became more and more difficult for them to replenish themselves.