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Orangutans: Wizards of the Rain Forest
Praise for the previous
"A fascinating firsthand account of the behavior and intelligence of orangutans, Russon's book is also an account of the successes, failures, and politics of orangutan rehabilitation in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra... The book is lavishly illustrated with full color photographs."
- Choice The only great apes found in Asia, these arboreal wizards are by nature elusive and solitary, and inhabit nearly inaccessible tropical rainforests. The tragedy is that orangutans are almost extinct, surviving in the wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where human influx is rapidly appropriating their habitat. Based on fifteen years of research, this extraordinary and definitive book focuses on orangutan intelligence and behavior. This book With one hundred color photographs taken by the author during her visits to the rainforests, Orangutans is an absorbing and instructive look at the unusual world of orangutans.
"A fascinating firsthand account of the behavior and intelligence of orangutans, Russon's book is also an account of the successes, failures, and politics of orangutan rehabilitation in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra... The book is lavishly illustrated with full color photographs."
- Choice The only great apes found in Asia, these arboreal wizards are by nature elusive and solitary, and inhabit nearly inaccessible tropical rainforests. The tragedy is that orangutans are almost extinct, surviving in the wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where human influx is rapidly appropriating their habitat. Based on fifteen years of research, this extraordinary and definitive book focuses on orangutan intelligence and behavior. This book With one hundred color photographs taken by the author during her visits to the rainforests, Orangutans is an absorbing and instructive look at the unusual world of orangutans.
240 pages, Paperback
Published August 7, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 20, 2018
Fascinating book that follows the journey of numerous orangutans as they are rehabilitated back into the wild. The photos are simply beautiful and the insights this book provides are very interesting. Well worth reading.
June 26, 2011
Orangutans: Wizards of the Rain Forest is a collection of anecdotes culled from the author's experience in various orangutan rehabilitation facilities in Borneo and Sumatra. Though the book is not terribly scientific, I learned a few things about these intelligent animals and even more about orangutan rehabilitation. The book had a nice conservation message, but was unfortunately rather sparse on solutions.
January 9, 2023
Interesting overview of the author's research into orangutan intelligence among rehabilitant orangs. I particularly appreciated her effort to present a balanced picture without pretending to some imaginary objectivity. Pictures are plentiful and high quality.
September 17, 2022
A solid book.
This book started really interesting with the history of human orangutan discoveries and learning about orangutan behavior, but then got quite a bit jumbled when she started recounting her own encounters with orangutans. It felt much less about her research at some points and more about listing random orangutan names and noting some of their behaviors. Good for case studies of oh an orangutan does this? But not so much a holistic account of orangutans or a more detailed account of her research or something. The accompanying images are quite stunning though. Truly.
The writing in this definitely needs some organizational reviews just to decide what is this book really trying to tell about the orangutan. For me, it was unclear.
This book started really interesting with the history of human orangutan discoveries and learning about orangutan behavior, but then got quite a bit jumbled when she started recounting her own encounters with orangutans. It felt much less about her research at some points and more about listing random orangutan names and noting some of their behaviors. Good for case studies of oh an orangutan does this? But not so much a holistic account of orangutans or a more detailed account of her research or something. The accompanying images are quite stunning though. Truly.
The writing in this definitely needs some organizational reviews just to decide what is this book really trying to tell about the orangutan. For me, it was unclear.
October 8, 2014
I love every animal, but primates have always been especially close to my heart. This book is easy to read, educational, and it provides a glimpse into the world of one of the most unique creatures on earth. I enjoyed reading about the personalities of individual orangutans, and each one's unique problem-solving abilities. Scientists consider it a near-crime to "anthropomorphize", but it's impossible to read a book like this without realizing that nonhumans can have fears and feelings, no matter how different they may be from our own.
"Wizards of the Rain Forest" brought home to me just how destructive humans can be, even when they're trying to help. It broke my heart to read of how these orangutans struggled, just to learn which foods to eat and how to find them. Even as these precious creatures brave manmade forest clearing and forest fires in an effort to find their place in this world, mankind can't even agree on which type of rehabilitation is best for them, and the controversy over the different methods only hurts the orangutans!
I finished this book feeling the same way I do after learning about many animals, awed at a creator who gives us such majesty in the flora and fauna of our world, and heartsick at what a lot of humans are doing with it. I can only hope that when a creature more sentient than ourselves comes along, it will show more kindness to us than we have shown to our animals.
"Wizards of the Rain Forest" brought home to me just how destructive humans can be, even when they're trying to help. It broke my heart to read of how these orangutans struggled, just to learn which foods to eat and how to find them. Even as these precious creatures brave manmade forest clearing and forest fires in an effort to find their place in this world, mankind can't even agree on which type of rehabilitation is best for them, and the controversy over the different methods only hurts the orangutans!
I finished this book feeling the same way I do after learning about many animals, awed at a creator who gives us such majesty in the flora and fauna of our world, and heartsick at what a lot of humans are doing with it. I can only hope that when a creature more sentient than ourselves comes along, it will show more kindness to us than we have shown to our animals.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews