Last Chance to See
Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a known combination. A combination that has enthralled millions of readers globally with its tag line ‘A Trilogy in Four Parts’. (In fact, there was a 5th book released too and that is for the trivia pursuers).
Hitchhiker’s was a fabulous book with its quirky characters. But for someone who does not really like science fiction and fantasy, the series failed to hold its appeal after the second book. I read the final book with a mutual sense of goodbye and repeated its title “So long, and thanks for all the fish” at its conclusion.
Adams’ Last Chance to See, co-authored with zoologist Mark Carwardine, is a wonderful book, equally or more funny than Hitchhiker’s and at the same time conveying the seriousness of the dangers that various animal species on our planet are facing.
Commissioned by the Observer Colour Magazine, Douglas and Mark set out around the world to those places where certain animals were on the endangered list (perhaps some of them are no longer around). This journey takes them to meet the Komodo Dragons in Indonesia, the Aye-Aye in Madagascar and the Yangtze River Dolphin in China to name a few. Douglas’ perceptive remarks on the conditions of these animals and their countries forms a major part of the book. While Mark provides a zoologist’s view on the proceedings, Douglas’ commentary borders on philosophy and a satirical take on how the human species is running amok damaging this planet with utter disregard to its fellow co-inhabitants.
The book opens with the line “This isn’t at all what I expected” and chances are pretty good that you would feel the same as you leaf through this book written by an author better known for his travels through the infinite cosmos rather than lurking around forests and rivers on Earth. In an ironical way, it makes sense that someone who wrote about the galaxy was asked to write about the goings on of a planet that is showing no signs of curbing its ruthless massacre of other animals.
Take the case of The Yangtze River Dolphin which relies on sound for all its navigation needs. Now, the river is filled with huge boats driven by diesel engines that are loud enough to blank out all spectrums of sound frequencies. Amidst this noise, the Yantze River Dolphin is unable to hear anything clearly and more often than not finds itself crashing into ship propellers and other man-made artifacts on the water surface. Douglas and Mark, accompanied by a camera technician, dip their microphone right into the river and record the noise. All they hear is a loud constant blast! Such is the area in which the dolphin struggles to survive. The book is replete with many such insightful observations about animals that are nearing their last phase on Earth.
Read the book for two reasons: a) To know the fate of many of our fellow species on this planet and b) to marvel at how a serious topic can be broached and addressed without being preachy.
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