Chasing the Dragon's Tail: The Struggle to Save Thailand's Wild Cats

by Alan Rabinowitz

In 1987, zoologist Alan Rabinowitz was invited by the Thai government to study leopards, tigers, and other wildlife in the Huai Kha Khaeng valley, one of Southeast Asia's largest and most prized forests. It was hoped his research would help protect the many species that live in that fragile reserve, which was being slowly depleted by poachers, drug traffickers, and even the native tribes of the area. Chasing the Dragon's Tail is the remarkable story of Rabinowitz's life and adventures in the forest as well as the streets of Bangkok, as he works to protect Thailand's threatened wildlife. Based on Rabinowitz's field journals, the book offers an intimate and moving look at a modern zoologist's life in the field. As he fights floods, fire-ant infestations, elephant stampedes, and a request to marry the daughter of a tribal chief, the difficulties that come with the demanding job of species conservation are dramatically brought to life. First published in 1991, this edition of Chasing the Dragon's Tail includes a new afterword by the author that brings the story up to date, describing the surprising strides Thailand has made recently in conservation. Other titles by Alan Rabinowitz include Beyond the Last Village and Jaguar .

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Wildlife, Animals, Asia, Science, Conservation

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Alan Robert Rabinowitz was an American zoologist, conservationist, field biologist and the CEO of Panthera, a nonprofit conservation organization devoted to protecting the world's 37 wild cat species. Called the "Indiana Jones of Wildlife Protection" by Time, Rabinowitz has studied jaguars, clouded leopards, Asiatic leopards, tigers, Sumatran rhinos, bears, leopard cats, raccoons, and civets. Today, Rabinowitz’s work focused on conserving the world’s largest, most imperiled cats—tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards—and their habitats.

Reviews

[Jeff Bursey]

(This book is about 250 pages, not 16 as GR has it.)

Expecting a book about the cats of thailand, instead I read about Rabinowitz's loneliness, his struggles (mentally, socially, and physically) as he stayed in a forest reserve, slowly learning the thai language and about Buddhism, about monks and thai attitudes (official and unofficial) to animals and forests, and a little about civets and leopards. Occasional trips to bangkok give him perspective on his stay amidst strangers. Anyone expecting great prose will be disappointed, but it was a book of some interest that can be read quickly.

[Amanda]

This is the third book I have read from Alan Rabinowitz. And like the previous reads, I felt the same great passion that Dr. Rabinowitz has for the big cats that he is trying to save. Part of the reason you can feel his great passion, is by the way he writes his stories. Dr. Rabinowitz gives great descriptions of the places, animals and people, he meets. You can also feel, the frustration and sadness that Dr. Rabinowitz goes through, trying to understand the polities and the people in Thailand and also, his on frustration with himself, over the loss, of the cats he has been tracking. The chapter about wildlife abuse is a tough chapter to read. I had to put the book down, at the end. I felt the same anger and anguish, that was being described, about the animal abuse going on during an outing at a market in Bangkok.

Like the previous reads. At the end, I felt exhausted from reading the experiences Dr. Rabinowitz goes through. But, I also felt, more informed on what goes on with the animals in the regions he is writing about. Dr. Rabinowitz becomes the animals voices in the books he writes. And if anyone knows anything about Dr. Rabinowitz, that is the promise he has made to the animals.

[Emily]

A gripping read, full of fascinating insights on ecological and conservation issues as well as economic and sociological issues in Thailand. An accessible choice for anyone interested in learning more about Southeast Asia in general and Thailand in particular.

[Nick Asreen]

Another incredible read by Alan. Highly recommend all of his books.

[Unwisely]

This book got on my reading list by accident; I was looking for a completely different book about screenwriting. But it was an interesting mix of travel book and academic study on wildlife.

Normally by the time I'm done with a travel book (which this isn't, exactly, he went there to study and work for a couple years) I want to hang out with the protagonist. That was definitely not true in this case, where I rather disliked the guy. He had a temper (although part of that was fairly clearly culture shock coming out at unfortunate times) and went to prostitutes. If I mitigate that by saying "...but not very much", it's true but I'm not sure it's useful.

He was also there in about the bleakest time for protection of wild species, so it's a fairly depressing read (thankfully there's an epilogue where we find out (spoiler?) that the worst didn't quite happen (yet).

I hadn't realized how little-studied these animals had been (and certainly not the civets), but it was neat to read about. The bits with the forest monks (which is apparently a thing) were interesting, too.

[Ed Wiggers]

For anyone interested in understanding Thailand and the struggle one embarks on preserving and maintaining our precious natural environment, this is a fantastic read. I'm on my third reading and can truthfully say it is one of the top three books I've ever read. Alan battles not only with socio-economic and political forces but with his own sense of values amid a world so different from his. He is so brutally honest with his strugles and failures and yet continues to pursue his deep seeded dream of saving the "wisdom of the forest" for all of us.

[Cicely]

This is a fantastic book on the fight for ecology. As a cat lover, this book made me really angry at those in Thailand that had such disregard for the animals survival.