In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land [Hardcover]

Bill Weber (Author), Amy Vedder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2001

In 1978, when Bill Weber and Amy Vedder arrived in Rwanda to study mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey, the gorilla population was teetering toward extinction. Poaching was rampant, but it was loss of habitat that most endangered the gorillas. When yet another slice of the Parc des Volcans in the Virunga Mountains was targeted for development, Weber and Vedder recognized that the gorillas were doomed unless something was done to save their land. Over Fossey's objections, they helped found the Mountain Gorilla Project. The MGP was designed to educate Rwandans about the gorillas and about the importance of conservation, while at the same time establishing an ecotourism project -- one of the first anywhere in a rainforest -- to bring desperately needed revenue to Rwanda. Weber and Vedder realized that Rwandans were bearing the full cost of saving the gorillas while receiving none of the benefit; the MGP would change that formula and help to meet local people's needs.

"In the Kingdom of Gorillas" introduces readers to the world of mountain gorillas. Through the authors we come to know entire families of gorillas, from powerful silverback patriarchs, who fiercely protect their territory and their families, to helpless newborn infants, cradled in their mother's embrace. Weber and Vedder take us with them as they slog through the rain-soaked moun- tain forests, observing the gorillas at rest and at play, eating, grooming, and preparing their nightly nests. They tell us about the gorillas they recognized and came to know as individuals, stories both tragic and joyful. They describe a landscape that was heaven one day, green hell the next. And they tell of their discovery of the terrible andmysterious events surrounding Fossey's murder.

When the authors first arrived in Rwanda, European expatriates called it "the Switzerland of Africa," a name that referred not only to its high mountains and rugged beauty but also to Rwanda's relative political and economic stability. Most outsiders knew the country only for its endangered gorillas, but Rwanda was a nation in danger, too. In the 1980s Weber and Vedder expanded their conservation work in Rwanda to include other forest reserves, learning more about the country, its people, and its increasingly turbulent politics. When a simmering civil war exploded into genocide in 1994, Weber and Vedder were in the U.S., unable to contact their many friends and colleagues trapped in the horrendous bloodbath. Later they would hear tales of brutality but also of heroism, including stories of park workers who hid their countrymen to protect them from slaughter. Others continued to work in the face of danger and without pay for nearly a year. Ironically, throughout the genocide and the subsequent conflict, the Virunga homeland of the gorillas was scarcely touched.

Today the population of mountain gorillas is the highest it has been since the 1960s, and there is new hope for the species' fragile future even as the people of Rwanda strive to overcome their ethnic differences.

Rich with details about the gorillas' lives, the realities of conservation, and portraits of ordinary people caught in extraordinary times, this is a riveting adventure story that is sure to take its place among the classic accounts of the world of nature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dian Fossey brought world attention to Rwanda's endangered mountain gorillas in 1978, but the animals have survived largely because of the pioneering work of ecologists Weber and Vedder. Realizing that gorilla conservation was not a priority for a country facing staggering economic and development problems, they persuaded skeptical authorities that a program combining research, ecotourism and education could both protect these majestic primates and generate economy-boosting revenues. Their Mountain Gorilla Project, implemented over Fossey's objections, proved successful, with recent gorilla censuses showing dramatic population increases. Weber and Vedder's fascinating account of their years in Rwanda describes thrilling, sometimes heart-breaking gorilla encounters, and analyzes their painful relationships with Fossey with bracing honesty. But the book's larger, and more complex, subject is conservation in a war-ravaged postcolonial world struggling with increased competition for finite resources. Weber and Vedder ably portray Rwandan society, fraught with ethnic divisions and governmental corruption that not only threatened wildlife conservation but imperiled human safety. Their description of the 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus based on reports from friends still in the country at the time is a chilling reminder that humans, too, are a fragile species. "We can't love animals or save wildlife," Weber and Vedder conclude, "without understanding the social, economic, and political context in which conservation occurs." Though they concede that "complete understanding [of a different culture] is a myth," they argue persuasively for continued efforts to this end. Agent, Gloria Loomis. (Oct. 4)Forecast: If ever a conservation book gets attention, this will be it. The combination of intimate primate portraits; sociopolitical observation; scientific conflict; successful, sustained activism; and intercultural cooperation, with the help of a four-city tour, will attract readers of many stripes.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here is the long-awaited update to the fate of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, as written by the married couple who joined Dian Fossey at her Karisoke research facility in the late 1970s. Although Fossey's is the more familiar name owing to her groundbreaking contact with the gorilla and subsequent grief over their deaths because of poaching, Weber and Vedder have ultimately accomplished far more to insure their survival. Unlike Fossey, they believe that the key to saving the gorilla is to create an ecotourism program that will benefit the Rwandan people. Much of the book is a detailed account of both field research and the political challenges of establishing the Mountain Gorilla Project, but the final chapters are devoted to a chilling portrait of mass genocide in the early 1990s. This important book is a case study in how conservation must be grounded in the realities of people: "We can't love animals or save wildlife without understanding the social, economic, and political context in which conservation occurs." Highly recommended for both academic and public libraries. Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition. 1 in number line edition (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743200063
• ISBN-13: 978-0743200066
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,324,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars They've proved that man is the most dangerous animal, June 20, 2009

By 

Catrina Cattaneo "Book Lover" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land (Hardcover)

I read this book while in Rwanda for gorilla tracking, and, as such, was really hopeful that it would give me greater insight into the history of Rwanda and the gorilla conservation movement.

While there is much within the book that is interesting, I found myself so turned off by their continued sniping and disparagement of Dian Fossey's character (even in the pages immediately following her death), that I had to question their perspectives and motives overall. They struck me as "Salieris"... so clearly jealous of her, her fame (which they have obviously never achieved) that their petty remembrances (she drank too much, she didn't give us wood) tainted the whole book. They were hired by her, clearly had a personality clash and then never got over it. Or perhaps they felt these tabloid "inside scoops" on Dian Fossey would help to sell more books?

Either way, they have lost. They didn't seem like good scientists or good people to me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You're Going To The Gorillas, Read This First, March 9, 2007

By 

Gae A. Weber "ornitholestes" (Jacksonville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In the Kingdom of Gorillas: The Quest to Save Rwanda's Mountain Gorillas (Paperback)

Let me start by saying that the only criticism I have of this book is that it doesn't talk about the gorillas themselves, their lives and behavior, all that much. If you want a natural history of gorillas, look elsewhere.

Having said that--this is an excellent book and I highly recommend it, especially if you're going to Rwanda. The book follows the development of the Mountain Gorilla Project from the last years of Dian Fossey's life through the Rwandan genocide and beyond. It is written by the couple who took over the Project after Fossey's murder, and tells their story in fascinating detail. It is a record of the ongoing struggle to maintain a national park in a poor country, of the commitment and hard work of a few people--Europeans, Americans, Rwandans--in difficult and even deadly circumstances, and, most importantly, of the interactions of poverty, politics, personality, corruption, ignorance, education, inspiration, fear, courage, joy and tragedy in the real world of conservation biology.

While this is about one country, one park (mostly) and one species, it will give the reader a much clearer understanding of the diffculties faced by field biologists, park rangers, conservationists and governments the world over who are trying to preserve wild places.

The book is written in a lively, conversational style and makes every effort to be even-handed with some difficult personalities (Fossey's not least of these). Even though the book devotes only a chapter to the horror of the genocide, it presents the events in both a larger context and very personal, affecting detail. In fact, one of the great strengths of the book is its graceful incorporation of the big picture and the snapshot to tell a whole story.

If you're going to Rwanda (or if you've been there)--BUY THIS BOOK!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest look at Gorilla history and research, January 9, 2007

By 

Carol A. Padgett "wise woman" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Kingdom of Gorillas: The Quest to Save Rwanda's Mountain Gorillas (Paperback)

Mountain Gorilla conservation and protection is a tenuous, difficult and sad story of the plight of these wonderful, intelligent beings. The truth of Dian Fossey's last years is also painful to digest. This book is forthright and eye-opening.