Customer Reviews
Take a Chance on Douglas... - By: Ian Wood, Author of 'Here's 2 Absent Fathers', 30 Jul 2008 
Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine show us `more exotic wildlife than you'd be wise to shake a stick at' highlighting many of the species of animals on the verge of extinctionin this excellent book which is as relevant now as it was when first publishedin 1990.
Originally commissioned to write an article for the Observer newspaper on the virtually extinct Aye-Aye Lemurin 1985 Douglas & Mark teamed up four years later to make `Last Chance to See...' initially as a Radio programme & then written up as this highly entertaining & informative book. We go on a trip to see Komodo Dragons, Mountain Gorillas, White Rhinos, Kakapo Parrots, Baiji Dolphins before arriving at a bird sanctuary on Mauritius. This is the perfect ending of the book as Mauritius is where the Do-do became extinct & the parallel is drawn that if we don't want history to repeat then we must learn the lessons it teaches.
I read this book after enjoying Adam's Hitch Hiker & Dirk Gently books & although this is very different to them the brilliance of his writing shines through & we are entertained whilst the message is hammered home. So long & thanks for all the facts...
If you only ever read one book - make it this one. - By: JS Craigy, 28 Jul 2007 
It is hilarious - it is sad - how can you cry & laugh at the same time? Read about the Kakapo!
I bought & read this book the week it was released. I quoted from it this afternoon. My 6 year old son asked me about Kimodo dragons - he wants one for his birthday - I could explain exactly why I was saying no. I think that although this book is over 15 years old it is extremely relevant to today. We must learn about our disappearing world - this is the easiest, funniest & most painless ways to do it. I hope Douglas & Mark were as proud of this book as I am of their writing it. Every week we lose hundreds of species - I'm not the conservation gestapo, however I do think more about what I do to the world since I read this book. Maybe you will too.
Last Chance to See - By: dogbarkssome, 11 Sep 2006 Most readers will probably be more familiar with Douglas Adams fictional output, but any fans of Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy et al would be making a grave mistake if they failed to investigate this book. Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine's globe-trotting journey to visit some of the most endangered species on the planet is not only a thought-provoking treatise on the plight of extinction but also a funny & warm travelogue, with Adams playing the role of perpetually bemused Englishman abroad. Amusing, insightful, important & highly readable.
Don't blink! - By: Stephen A. Haines, 17 Jul 2006 Somewherein the depths of its vast corporate wisdom, the Guardian/Observer news organisation found a pearl of good sense. The pearl hatched a precious jewel of an idea. Send Douglas Adams, creator of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, accompanied by zoologist Mark Carwadine, to seek out some of the Earth's disappearing species. His account is classic Adams, with vivid description, poignant observations & incisive study of the people & places he encountered. The age of this book is of small account, even with the "Mark's Last Word" update segment closing the book. The book remains a pleasure to read.
Starting by his admission that he was "entirely qualified" for his role as "an extremely ignorant non-zoologist", Adams then describes their visit to Madagascar to find the aye-aye. A nocturnal lemur that "seems to be assembled from bits of other animals". He notes that the island was bypassed by the monkeys due to continental drift. It was the lemurs that occupied the aboreal environment. This was fine for the lemus until a different monkey, humans, arrived & began cutting down the trees. The lemurs, having fewer places left to hide, are increasingly constrained for habitat. This, of course, is the theme of the entire book.
The touring team moves through Southeast Asia to view the komodo, which may be the origin of the many "dragon" myths. Komodos are eating machines. Adams description of the way tourists are entertained by feasting komodos isn't something for the squeamish. Yet as he rightly points out, there is a tourist dollar factor to considerin how some disappearing species are to be saved. Government action is to be considered, but when wildlife becomes symbolic to a regime, endangered animals are just as likely to be further threatened. A "Leapordskin Pillbox Hat" resting on a President's head isn't the best example of conservation of species.
Of all the poignant accountsin this narrative, the kakapo must rate very highin our concern. Adams sets the scene with a vivid description of New Zealand's South Island - a place to "make your brain quiver". Landing a helicopterin that landscape also makes the brain quiver as Adams account of flying onto a ridge top demonstrates. His radio operator refuses to look over the edge while interviewing the pilot. But all the skilful piloting is of no avail as the team seeks the object of their quest. A strange, flightless bird, whose mating call was like "A Heartbeatin the Night", no longer offers his call from the ridge top. The kakapo, which inhabited the mountains for millennia, mate infrequentlyin a courtship beset with difficulties. With no natural predators, they failed to adapt to human-introduced dogs, cats & rats. Consequently, the population is down to about forty individuals when Adams visited New Zealand. In this case, a government has expended much effortin protecting this plump, lonely bird. An island suffered an extinction due to New Zealand's conservation efforts - it killed every cat on it. Free of predators, the island is now home to all the kakaposin existence. Every parrot bears a number tag, & a name. We meet finger-chewing Ralph whose sharp, powerful beak that never did duty as a defensive weapon.
Adams travelled to Africa to find rhinos & China to locate baiji dolphinsin the murky Yangtze River. The rhinos almost escaped his gaze, but the baiji remained out of sight. The silty river caused the dolphins to adapt their hearing to lifein the dark, but the multitude of noises created by human boats confuse them. The slaughter of dolphins by boat propellers is exterminating them. More active disturbances by our species have already extinguished the dodo on the island of Mauritius. Other species face similar fates. Adams encounters one of conservation's more exotic figures, Carl Jones [who also received attention from David Quammenin "Song of the Dodo"]. Jones' methods of preserving the Mauritius kestrel provides Adams with one of the most hilarious accountsin the book. How well Jones has succeeded remains to be determined.
The book is a delightful read, but that doesn't distract from the seriousness of the issue, nor Adams dedication to species preservation. Graced with some enchanting photographs, this highly personalised account still captures the reader's heart. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Superbly brilliant... - By: , 07 Nov 2005 I was recommended this book as part of my ecotourism degree & the more i read, the less i could put it down. It was a superb insight into the world we know so little about under the surface. An interesting, highly informative read with an amusing side which never mocks the message but only contributes to the thought-provoking story that is the severity of the rapid disappearance of these unique animals.
A book to make you laugh & cry...
