As one observer whispered after first catching sight of a gorilla, "Surely, God, they are my kin." Readers will echo him after glimpsing the animal's sage, mysterious mien and its moods, wonderfully suggested in this book. Imperious or impish, unruly or reflective, physically massive yet ecologically delicate, African mountain gorillas, the victims of poachers, politicians, zoos and agriculture, number only a few hundred. But, thanks to the efforts of the late Dian Fossey and other gorilla conservationists, the future looks rosier. Their story is told here by eminent scientist and American Book Award-winner ( The Serengeti Lion ) Schallerfrom the "hellish dream creature" first feared by Westerners, to the creature now known for its grace under pressure. Spectacular color reproductions seem to put the animal in our immediate presence; the broad scope of Magnum photographer Nichols's camera includes the gorilla's human neighbors in Rwanda, Uganda and Zaire.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"At a time when so many of the world's great natural areas are endangered, it is a pleasure to read about one that has been saved, particularly when the impetus for its salvation is a creature as magnificent, appealing and--yes--even humanlike as this book shows the mountain gorilla to be." --Maggie Nicholls, The New York Times Book Review
"The most brilliant field zoologist of this century and an extraordinary photographer working together in a single volume about the most majestic of endangered animals, the mountain gorillas." --Michael Crichton
"When you stare into the face of this mystery we call 'gorilla,' you are moved to consider not conservation solely but the fundamental issues of our time-dignity, compassion, the indisputable sanctity of life. If we are to undo the dark legacy of colonialism, of which the mountain gorilla is, in a disturbingly real sense, latterly a victim, it is upon these issues that we must stand. Michael Nichols's and George Schaller's filed work on the slopes of the Virunga volcanos, in this sense, is not only illuminating but courageous." --Barry Lopez
"This lovely and eloquent book is part of an urgent, cooperative effort that gives us some hope that gorillas may survive in their natural home." --Edward Hoagland
"By having become so imminently threatened with extinction, like the snow leopards of the Tibetan Plateau, the gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes have become a metaphor for the imperiled state of all living creatures on our planet. In speaking out so eloquently on behalf of such a unique threatened species, zoologist George B. Schaller and photographer Michael Nichols are, in effort, speaking out for all of us." --Orville Schell
"Michael Nichols's photographs are, by turn, savage, serene, exotic, seductive, and brutally honest. Along with George B. Schaller, whose pioneering work with the mountain gorillas has inspired a generation, Nichols has created an important, thrilling, and thought-provoking book." --Tim Cahill
"Sad that these glorious photographs may one day be our final portrait of the mountain gorilla, I pray Mr. Nichols's brilliant record will prove, once and for all, that the fate of this fellow primate is not just the responsibility of Africa, but of all the world." --John Heminway
-- Review
Gorilla recounts in remarkable color photographs the strange and powerful story of the last few hundred members of a nearly extinct species: the famed mountain gorillas of the Virunga volcanoes. These inhabitants of the forested mountain range, bordering Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire, were brought to the attention of the world through last-ditch efforts to preserve their dwindling survivors. Told here with rare force and eloquence is the story of a people, the land, the animals, and the environment that struggle to maintain a delicate balance in one remote corner of the earth. The photographs of Michael Nichols were taken during three trips to Africa since 1981. The authoritative essay by George Schaller summarizes the last two decades in the existence of the gorilla and expands on his own pioneering studies in the late 1960s. Schaller explains how the animals fend off extinction in a beautiful, primitive land, and offers a potent warning of the effects of tampering with a fragile ecosystem. Gorilla is a beautiful book, and a resounding testament to the need to save them from extinction. -- Midwest Book Review
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