Gorilla Tactics: How to Save a Species

by Greg Cummings

Gorillas are among the most recognizable of the large charismatic mammals, but climate change and poaching has brought them to the brink of extinction.
Greg Cummings was the executive director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for seventeen years. He shares his fascinating experiences as a “wildlife Robin Hood”—raising money from the rich and famous and redistributing it to endangered gorillas and their habitats.
He met and enlisted the help of celebrities such as Sigourney Weaver, Arthur C. Clark, Douglas Adams, and Leonardo DiCaprio. This thirty-year worldwide journey moves from boardrooms in Manhattan and London to mountain treks in Rwanda and Congo.
Gorilla Tactics is sure to enchant readers with Greg’s unique experiences, while sharing insight into the work it takes to save a species from extinction.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, Nature

304 pages, Hardcover

Published March 5, 2024

About the author

An award-winning wildlife conservationist, Greg Cummings achieved remarkable success protecting gorilla populations in the wild through community-based initiatives in East and Central Africa. During his 17-year tenure as executive director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, he raised millions of dollars from corporations, foundations and individuals around the world. All that money was invested directly into communities adjacent to habitats and helped ensure the survival of the mountain gorilla.

As a veteran safari guide, Cummings has taken movie producers, heads of industry, ambassadors and celebrities to meet great apes in the wild. Steve McQueen, who recently won the Academy Award for Best Picture, remarked after trekking with him in the Congo jungle, “Basically he’s Dennis Hopper out of Apocalypse Now!”

Cummings has appeared with Tom Brokaw on 'Today' and Daryl Hannah on 'Richard Bang’s Adventures', participated in documentaries for the BBC, NPR, and CBC, and published articles in 'The Guardian' and 'The Ecologists'. He has written two novels: 'Gorillaland' and 'Pirates' (both published by Cutting Edge Press, London).

“His depth of understanding of Africa keeps the action moving and creates plot twists that are plausible yet wholly unexpected,” says his publisher Martin Hay.

Until recently he was living in a canvass tent on the edge of Kidepo Valley National Park in Uganda’s remote Karamoja region, going to sleep each night to the sound of grazing buffalo and hunting lions. Since 2009 he has been a director of WildLIGHT, a registered charity in Uganda.

He is currently in North America to promote gorilla safaris and his novels.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of "Gorilla Tactics" By Greg Cummings. The author has been dedicated to saving the Gorillas for almost three decades. When he was four his family moved to a country in Africa. throughout his childhood his family moved to several countries in Africa. As a young man he took an interest in Gorillas. He became advocate for saving and protecting the Gorillas when he learned how many are being killed by poachers and other reasons the Gorillas are dying. He became interested in learning about Dian Fossey. Over the next 20 plus years he worked hard at getting fundraisers to protect the Gorillas. Meeting people like Bill Gates, Sigourney Weaver, Leonardo DiCaprio the help get funds to protect the few Gorillas that are left in this world. he writes of the obstacles he has endured getting funds to help the Gorillas. I liked parts of this book but felt he spent way too much time writing about how much he went through to get funds. I would have liked learning more about the Gorillas.