A Naturalist and Other Beasts

Book excerpt: Since the 1950s, eminent field biologist George Schaller has roamed through many lands observing wild animals and conducting landmark long-term studies that have deepened our understanding of them. He has reported and reflected on his work in classic books such as The Year of the Gorilla, The Last Panda, and National Book Award winner The Serengeti Lion, but much of his best writing appeared only in magazines. This collection features nineteen short pieces, brought together in book form for the first time—a unique overview of his remarkable career. Chapters describe stalking tigers in India and jaguars in Brazil’s Pantanal swamps, studying mountain gorillas in Rwanda and predator-prey relations in the Serengeti, tracking new species on the wild border of Vietnam and Laos, seaching for snow leopards in the Hindu Kush, and Schaller’s groundbreaking work with giant pandas in Sichuan. Schaller’s new introductions set the scene for each chapter, and a new overall introduction looks back on his career. His own photographs appear throughout: of animals and their behavior, of fieldwork, of the author and his family “on location” in temporary homes from a hut in the African highlands to a tent in the snowy mountains of China.