Into Africa [Paperback]

Craig Packer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226644308 | ISBN-13: 978-0226644301 | Publication Date: November 1, 1996

Craig Packer takes us into Africa for a journey of fifty-two days in the fall of 1991. But this is more than a tour of magnificent animals in an exotic, faraway place. A field biologist since 1972, Packer began his work studying primates at Gombe and then the lions of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater with his wife and colleague Anne Pusey. Here, he introduces us to the real world of fieldwork—initiating assistants to lion research in the Serengeti, helping a doctoral student collect data, collaborating with Jane Goodall on primate research.

As in the works of George Schaller and Cynthia Moss, Packer transports us to life in the field. He is addicted to this land—to the beauty of a male lion striding across the Serengeti plains, to the calls of a baboon troop through the rain forests of Gombe—and to understanding the animals that inhabit it. Through his vivid narration, we feel the dust and the bumps of the Arusha Road, smell the rosemary in the air at lunchtime on a Serengeti verandah, and hear the lyrics of the Grateful Dead playing off bootlegged tapes.

Into Africa also explores the social lives of the animals and the threats to their survival. Packer grapples with questions he has passionately tried to answer for more than two decades. Why do female lions raise their young in crèches? Why do male baboons move from troop to troop while male chimps band together? How can humans and animals continue to coexist in a world of diminishing resources? Immediate demands—logistical nightmares, political upheavals, physical exhaustion—yield to the larger inescapable issues of the interdependence of the land, the animals, and the people who inhabit it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author, a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the Univ. of Minnesota, gives a vivid, day-by-day view of field biologists at work. In fall 1991 Packer spent seven weeks in Tanzania orienting new assistants to lion research, helping a doctoral student collect fecal samples from lions and baboons and retrieving files from Jane Goodall's house. Twenty years earlier, he had worked with Goodall at Gombe; later, with his wife, Anne Pusey, he studied lions in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. Here, he explores the social lives of animals and the threats to their survival. He also tells of coping with vehicle breakdowns, physical exhaustion, personality conflicts and political upheavals. In the tradition of Jane Goodall and George Schaller, Packer has written an engaging account of his African experience.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Here's a book to make the budding wildlife researcher either abandon or reaffirm the calling. Packer describes less than two months of research into the lives and habits of the lion and reveals not only how boring the king of beasts is (lions sleep more than 18 hours a day) but also how less-than-thrilling research can be: for instance, Packer's project involved collecting and analyzing fecal samples. Before tuning out, though, be assured that this is a terrific book. Packer readily admits that Africa has cast its spell on him, and the spell has worked its way into his writing. The rhythms of the continent seem all the while to leap off the pages as Packer describes how the research group had to deal with broken sample bottles (broken while stored in luggage, alas), corrupt local officials, nonworking cars, and various strange and exotic diseases, and also an incident that took place some years before--the kidnapping of researchers by hostile guerrillas. Atop all that, toss in squabbles among the research group, thievery by local citizens hired by the group, and difficulties in obtaining needed materials, and you'll get a good idea of how wildlife researchers really operate out in the field. Commendable on many different levels, this is, above all, an immensely entertaining book. Jon Kartman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226644308
• ISBN-13: 978-0226644301
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Following the lions, fighting the bugs, November 14, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Into Africa (Hardcover)

Field biologist Packer has been studying the primates at Gombe (Jane Goodall's territory) and the lions of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater for more than 20 years. Into Africa is a present-tense daily diary of his 1991 trip to his old and present haunts. In it, he manages to describe an entire career of accomplishments and disappointments.

From the fatigue of long airline flights to the frustration of searching for lion worm medicine in third world pharmacies, or losing a day's water samples to an especially deep rut in the road, Packer exemplifies the dedication of scientists who brave the hardships and precarious politics of the third world to study Africa's great animals.

Introducing new research assistants to lion watching, Packer recalls his own early days - the long hours of boredom (lions mostly sleep) punctuated by moments of excitement and discovery. He leads us through the trials and errors of collecting parasite data and explains how research thus far has revealed why lions live in groups and why the wealthiest of lions - those in the food-rich Ngorongo Crater - suffer from inbreeding, much like the old royal families of Europe.

While describing the social lives and eating habits of lions, Packer invites us into every aspect of the researcher's life, including internal squabbles, money problems, dangerous night flights and vehicle breakdowns.

Then it's time for him to move on to Gombe, "the unhealthiest place in the world," which he approaches with a mixture of dread and anticipation. We soon learn that it's not only the hot, damp, parasite-rich environment that haunts his memories, but the kidnapping of four students during the 70's, a fate narrowly escaped by Packer and his wife who left Gombe to be de-wormed elsewhere.

While describing the exciting discoveries made at Gombe from its earliest days, he also recalls the fate of a researcher who died in a fall and remembers the treacheries and heroisms of some of the African workers. And then he drinks some water. The next entries are a haze of illness, fear and, pushed by time constraints, work.

The diary ends with a conference of scientists pooling their data to try and decide how to best use the resources of the Serengeti National Park. So much knowledge coming together serves to show how much still has to be learned and how every change in the ecosystem affects every other aspect - land, animals, people.

The diary format suits Packer. The immediacy is exciting and allows the reader to see the day-to-day work, hampered and occasionally aided, by serendipity and disaster. Packer is so well-organized that this close-up view never detracts from the big picture.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful look at wildlife research in East Africa, November 12, 2001

By 

Frances C. Morrier (North Oxford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Into Africa (Paperback)

This book was recommended by another client on a recent safari trip to Tanzania. Her description of the author's unsentimental descriptions of the challenges involved in collecting and transporting various 'samples' intrigued me. I really enjoyed the book--particularly the sections on lions in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The blurb on the back cover which comments that the book may be the best antidote to 'Out of Africa' hit the nail on the head.
I thoroughly enjoyed Packer's descriptions of time spent in the field, observing and tracking lions. He also does a good job contrasting his everyday life in Minnesota with life in the Serengeti and Gombe Parks.
If you're interested in a 'real' picture of a researcher's life in the field, lions or baboons, or descriptions of the Serengeti, you won't be disappointed.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super book on Tanzania and wildlife, May 3, 1998

By 

Frank (Stockton CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Into Africa (Hardcover)

Wow! This well-written book covers, in narrative style, with humor, a recent 52-day field research expedition by the author to the Tanzanian Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater to study lions, and to Gombe (of Goodall fame) to study chimps and baboons. In frequent flashbacks he reviews his past field expeditions and what they discovered -- new theories about why lions, chimps and baboons form the type of social structures they do. He also covers the struggles and hopes of the wildlife parks, and the difficulty of trying to reconcile the needs, wants, and contributions of: the researchers, the people living in the area, the government, the tourists, the poachers, and the foreign hunters -- all on the limited funds available.
He throws in a lot of information on the species he studies, and builds this information into a theory about how all species -- perhaps even man -- are motivated to either cooperate or compete with each other. Packer also includes his commentaries and anecdotes about his fellow researchers, camp employees, local residents, local and national government officials, and the history of the area.
Packer does an especially thorough job of analyzing how the species' survival is affected by men, disease, inbreeding, other species, and their own species' behavior patterns.
The liner notes include recommendations of this book from the renowned George Schaller and Cynthia Moss. The reviews here by Booklist and Kirkus are accurate.
That said, I do have some minor quibbles with the book. There is no index, and the table of contents is only chronological according to the "diary" format of the book. If the reader wants to review the material -- however excellent -- on lion infanticide or chimpanzee wars, the reader has to leaf through the entire book to find it.
Likewise, there is no list of suggested further reading or sources, and no glossary. While Packer does define the Swahili terms he uses, he does so ONCE, in text. When one reads that "Tony Sinclair is the real mzee" on page 244, one has to remember the definition from page 52 [mzee is literally "old man" -- a term of honor and respect].
Packard also seems to dwell on the negative and random man-on-man violence -- for instance, a lengthy report on the 1975 kidnapping of four researchers from Gombe by Zairian rebels, camp thieves, and assaults on tourists. Grouping these incidents occurring over 20 years in one narrative makes them seem more pervasive than they are.
This is an EXCELLENT book for anyone interested in African wildlife or animal behavior in general.