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

I had this book for many years before actually picking it up to read. I bought it while working at a bookstore and even though I have a wildlife biology background, I do not have a particular interest in gorillas so it took me awhile to get around to reading it. That being said, this was one of the most thorough, interesting, honest, and engaging books that I have ever read on any species or wildlife related issue! Hats off to Bill and Amy because they are two of the most honest authors that I have ever read. They told the whole story about their lives and experiences with the gorillas, even when the facts did not neccessarily portray them in a good light! That makes this read extremely refreshing and their telling of accounts undoubtably truthful and honest!! This should be required reading for any student of international wildlife management/conservation but will be an engaging read for anyone interested in gorillas, wildlife, conservation or the events that took place in and around Rwanda in the 90's. Highly recommended!! Wish there were more books like this on wildlife related issues out there!!

This is a great book. Not only does it tell an incredible story. But it also illustrates one of the realities of saving wildlife and habitat. People don't kill wildlife or destroy forests out of spite. They are driven to it for economic reasons; namely, they have no other way to feed their familes. So, in order to change their behaviours, they have to be offered alternatives. The work of Bill Weber and Amy Vetter offered alternatives to Rwandans. Their living standards rose (excluding the effects of genocide and civil war, of course) and poaching and habitat destruction were reduced. A great case study. But, much more than that, it is also an enjoyable, well written account of the lives and dreams of a great pair of people.

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.

The goal of the Weber-Vedder research team goes way beyond the single-minded documentation of one species: they study not only the life of the mountain gorilla, but also their changing habitat and the needy humans who share it. Amy Vedder is a biologist, her husband Bill Weber a social scientist, and their multidisciplinary approach to conservation offers a fresh look at opportunities to create win-win situations for both the animals and the humans who live near them. In a lively and fast-paced narrative, Weber and Vedder document threats to the gorillas from 1978 ? 1992, presenting graphic accounts of animals injured by snares, beheaded by poachers, exposed to diseases borne by humans, allowed to die for lack of medical care, and forced to live in ever decreasing habitats, with more and more limited food supplies. Working first with Dian Fossey, whose battles with the bottle and mental illness are well documented, they eventually found the Mountain Gorilla Project, working with local governments and international foundations to develop educational programs, slow down the devastation of forests to create farmland, and make Rwandans proud of the unique environment they share with the animal world. The outbreak of the Rwandan civil war in 1993, and the ensuing genocide of over a million people, which no western nation or the U.N. intervened to prevent, are depicted dramatically, emotionally, and thoroughly, as the research team returns to Rwanda to find their workers dead, missing, or in jail. Ironically, the gorillas are thriving. As the country tries to heal its wounds and rebuild, the authors comment about values: "There are more than a few Rwandans who wonder if the Western world would have intervened more quickly and forcefully if mountain gorillas, rather than Africans, were being slaughtered in 1994." In Rwanda, it may be the humans who are the more fragile species in this dangerous land. Mary Whipple

An intimate, engrossing tale of an American couple's long and largely successful campaign to protect the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. In the Kingdom of the Gorillas is a multi-layered story that moves easily from the intricacies of field research in the tropics to the dynamics of Rwandan society and politics. Particularly rewarding for this reader were the insights into the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis provided through the personal stories of the authors' many friends and acquaintances on both sides of the ethnic chasm, and the careful observations of the personality and behavior of Dian Fossey which go far to correct the public record of this complicated researcher and advocate.