Douglas Adams, known mostly for his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, also took a keen interest in wildlife conservation. Around 1989, he and a zoologist named Mark Cawardine collaborated on a radio documentary series for the BBC called "Last Chance to See," about endangered species. Adams was the perfect person to accompany Cawardine to various, often remote, parts of the world to see the animals that may not survive much longer, as well as interview the scientists and naturalists trying to save them. Adams speaks (and writes) with a clear and very humorous style that avoids the usual preachiness that often occurs when talking about endangered species. Adams had always proven a very astute observer (of humans and animals),. Even some of his off-hand remarks inject a much-needed element of comic relief into the radio series and the subsequent companion book.
Adams describes their interactions with government officials in a dictatorship thus:
“The system by which Zaire works … is very simple. Every official you encounter will make life as unpleasant as he possibly can until you pay him to stop it. In U.S. dollars. He then passes you along to the next official, who will be unpleasant to you all over again.”
And about one of their hosts when they visit Mauritius, he writes:
“Richard Lewis is a man who has worked out a foolproof way of getting snappy answers to his questions.… [He drives along narrow and windy roads] with a pizzazz that borders dangerously on élan, and when he asks you a question, he turns and looks at you and doesn't look back at the road again until you've answered. Mortal terror is not the best state of mind in which to try and frame intelligent answers, but you have to try.”
In the chapter about the Yangtze River Dolphin, they snuck onboard a ferry docked on the river to use a fishing pole to lower a microphone into the water to record how noisy the river was. When confronted by a member of the crew (who clearly did not understand English any more than either of them could speak Mandarin), they decided, "The mere idea of even attempting to account for ourselves defeated us. We settled instead for explaining, by means of elaborate mime and sign language, that we were barking mad."
That gives you a clear idea of what you will find in both the radio series and the companion book. For fans of Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide" novels (and even those who haven't read them), this is a wonderful chance to enjoy his non-fiction writing.
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine (companion book to the radio series) 591.52 A211
Last Chance to See: the Original BBC Radio Series: in Search of the World's Most Endangered Species (The Radio series as a single eAudiobook available through Libby)
