This is the last chapter of the “A Life in the Wild” and it shows the results of George’s influence when he studied the animals in the last chapters.
Alaska’s Great Wilderness
This wilderness in 1956 became the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee in 1960. George also returned to this place on 2006, bringing along two students from the University of Alaska and one from the University of Wyoming. George felt heartened that this place was just as he remembered: a vast and complete ecosystem. I also felt glad that it was still as beautiful as the time George went there for an expedition fifty years ago.
The Mountain Gorillas
After seven years, a naturalist named Dian Fossey began her gorilla research in the Virunga Volcanoes. She worked desperately to keep the gorillas alive because much of the gorilla forest became a farmland, poachers caught infant gorillas for zoos and the adult gorillas were killed so that their heads and hands could be sold as souvenirs. I was shocked to read that Dian was murdered in the Virungas in 1985. It is said that it was probably someone who opposed her antipoaching efforts. I hope that the gorillas will survive the tragedies that will come their way.
India’s Tigers
When I read that tiger shooting was banned and that they created Project Tiger to save this majestic beasts I instantly became delighted with the news. I am also happy to hear that the tiger population increased but it is sad to hear that poaching has returned due to the growing demand of tiger bones in Chinese traditional medicine. Fortunately, Wildlife Conservation Society and the Panthera Foundation launched Tigers Forever, a new project that hoped to boost tiger populations.
All in all, the animals in the previous chapters has benefited from George’s studies. Now, more people around the world want to protect their wild place and wild creature and after reading this book, I am one of those people too.
Picture: George, shown here in Afghanistan, is working to create a transborder International Peace Park that will include parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and Tajikistan. The park will protect snow leopards, Marco Polo sheep, ibex, brown bears , wolves and eagles.
This chapter is about the animals in Chang Tang. The animals here are Tibetan antelopes, wild yaks, gazelles, wild asses, wolves, bears, lynxes and perhaps many more. The wild yaks in Chang Tang sounds enormous when I read how very, very small you will feel when in its presence. I think the yaks are astounding with their great curving horns and shaggy fur that almost falls to their feet. The Kiang (also known as Tibetan wild asses) are also astounding, they are two-toned animals with chestnut brown and creamy white. Over eighty years earlier, an explorer named Sven Hedin witnessed thousands of elegant kiang running and turning in perfect formation. If I would have witnessed such a thing I would have felt amazed by their elegance. But the most spectacular animals in Chang Tang would be the chiru. Even though the chiru are the most common animals in Chang Tang, they are valued for their wool. The chiru wool would be sold to traders then would be sold again to other traders. The worst part is that the traders don’t know what the chiru wool was used for. The mystery was soon solved by George and his allies. The wool was used to make shahtoosh shawls, shahtoosh is a rare wool that was the softest and finest in the world. I think is is sickening that the shawls were made from dead chiru’s wool.
The pandas are the most strikingly colored of all mammals. They are loved by the people if China but they were not safe. Villagers shot them for their pelts or to keep them in a zoo. I think the pandas are also beautiful creatures but there a lot of causes for a panda’s death. They could accidentally fall for a trap that was meant for another animal, less bamboo or they could starve. I felt sad for the pandas but on the bright side, the Chinese government still helps the pandas when they are in need because they care for them. Pandas are very adorable, perhaps even the most adorable in the planet. They must always stuff themselves with food to survive in the wild. I am hoping that the pandas will survive through any tough situation that will come their way. This chapter reminds me of a book I read, it is a book about pandas. It shows facts about pandas, for example: what they eat.
This chapter is about the elusive and beautiful snow leopards. Only some people see these legendary cats, I think it would be great if I was able to see one. George Schaller was on a mission to find healthy populations of wildlife to convince the governments of Nepal and Pakistan to turn the areas into national parks. If he failed, the snow leopards might vanish into myth and memory. I felt sad that the snow leopards might completely disappear. Snow leopards are beautiful creatures and if they vanish then it would be a shame. People would shoot the leopards because they were killing their livestock but they were only doing that because prey was scarce-due to overhunting and overgrazing by livestock. This chapter about snow leopards remind me of the time I went to a zoo. There were also snow leopards there-as I read on the signs in the zoo-but unfortunately I did not get to see one. I am still hoping to see one some day, if I’m lucky.
This chapter is both delightful and sad for me. The Schaller family went to Serengeti so that George could research predator-prey relations. The head of the Tanzania’s national park learned about George’s successful tiger study so he invited him to come. I think the four major carnivores (lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and wild dog) in Serengeti are magnificent. They have their own ways of hunting and also had their own specialty. I really liked the cheetahs, they are amazing when they catch their prey, they run really fast when they explode into action. The lions are also beautiful, with their extravagant ruff. The wild dogs are also interesting, they have patchwork coats, homely faces and Mickey Mouse ears, as George described them. The hyenas are good too but they mentioned little about them except that they sometimes steal food from other predators. This chapter also reminds me of a website that shows information about lions, cheetahs and other animals. It was National Geographic and it gave me a lot of interesting information about lions just like in the “A Life in the Wild” book.
In this chapter, it showed how tigers live in the wild. This took place in Central India. George, Kay and their two sons settled into a small bungalow in Kanha National Park to begin family life in the wild. As I read this chapter, I thought that tigers are very interesting and very family-oriented. I felt a bit sad that their were only a few thousand tigers remained. George often saw a tigress which he dubbed Cut-ear, because of a notch missing from her left ear, with her four cubs. Four healthy cubs was a big litter, it was going to be hard for Cut-ear to feed them as they grow. I began to be a bit worried when I read that, it would be depressing if a cub died.
When I read chapter one, I thought it was a good start to begin on George Schaller’s childhood and school years. That way, the people who read it would understand his love for animals. I really liked the part about Siegfried, a blue heron. After meals, Siegfried would sit on George’s lap and stretch out his neck to rest his head on George’s shoulder. If that happened to me, I would have felt really happy. As I read through the text, one part of it piqued my interest. George, the Muries, two other scientists and his former professors were going to go on an expedition. They were going to Brooks Range, it was America’s last great wilderness. I tried to imagine how it felt to go hiking and exploring in a forest while collecting facts about the surrounding around you. I think it would be a nice experience to go exploring in a place filled with nature.
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