A Naturalist and Other Beasts: Tales from a Life in the Field, George B Schaller

A Naturalist and Other Beasts:

Tales from a Life in the Field,

George B Schaller

Sierra Club Books

The world’s best known field biologist, Dr George Schaller is as rare the  animals that he strives to save. Amongst his many achievements is that unique ability to combine scientific precision and knowledge with remarkable wit and an unabashed love for his subjects in his writing. His is not the scientific tome, inscrutable to his readers. Schaller’s quest is for “a deeper understanding, one beyond soulless statistics.” He is convinced that “an appeal for conservation must reach the heart, not just the mind.” And this he seeks to do, with his beautifully sculpted words that touch the soul and enrich the mind. The book is an interesting collection of 19 essays that take us through the vast expanse of his travels to discover new species in Vietnam, on the trail of the jaguar in Brazil’s Pantanal Swamps and in the vast expanse of the Hindu Kush in search of the elusive snow leopard. e despairs for the tiger, yet he says, “The situation is not wholly bleak, and
tigers can continue to burn bright in the forests if countries devote willpower and long term commitment to their survival.”The writing is engaging, inspiring, evocative…without getting too effusive, let’s just say, it’s The writing is engaging, inspiring, evocative…withoutgetting too effusive, let’s just say, it’s simply brilliant.

Read it.