The Birut Galdikas Story --"PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, " Starred Review As orangutans slip into further endangerment due to poaching (mothers are shot in order that babies may be taken as pets) and destruction of their habitat, books such as this may inspire a backdraft of conservation. Written by a prime photographer who has accompanied Galdikas through Borneo's rainforests, this first entry in the Great Naturalist series introduces the famed primatologist and her passion. With Diane Fossey and Jane Goodall Galdikas completes the primate research triangle whose participants were mentored by the late Louis Leakey. And like these contemporaries, Galdikas possesses remarkable determination. Orangutan research proves especially daunting: "unlike the highly social chimpanzees, great apes...who travel on the ground, orangutans live alone in the trees and travel by swinging." Each day, Galdikas traveled far from camp, "drenched by rain, caked with mud, and bleeding from leech bites"; she endured "mysterious infections," subsisted on canned sardines, and watched her scant belongings rot in the extreme humidity. In brief, well organized chapters and highly readable prose, Gallardo interlaces intriguing observations of orangutans with the life of their patient observer and rehabilitator. The book will rouse readers of all ages not only to a curiosity for primates, but also to admiration for those who brave adversity to eke out a larger understading of the natural environment. Ages 8-12. --"SMITHSONIAN, " November 1993 An informative account of the renowned primatologist's work in Indonesia. For all children who care about the fate of the Earth, but particularly for girls who want to follow an out-of-the-ordinary dream. --"CHILDREN'S BOOKWATCH, " July 1993 A student of the renowned paleontologist Dr. Louis B. Leakey, and a colleague of both Diane Fossey and Jane Goodall, Birut Galdikas is the world's foremost authority on the life and behavior of the orangutan. For more than twenty years she has lived in the jungles of Borneo, devoting her life to studying and preserving this endangered animal as well as its disappearing rain forest habitat. The informative text of "Among the Orangutans" describes both the obstacles and adventures of Dr. Galdikas's explorations a well as her startling discoveries, and the full-color photographs brilliantly capture her life among the orangutans. Birut Galdikas is an impressive role model, and her inspiring story serves as a reminder that the future of our fragile world, as well as our understanding of it, lies in the dreams and determination of today's young naturalists.
