Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo
by Birute M. F. Galdikas
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Book Summary Information
Author: Birute M. F. GaldikasEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-08-01
ISBN: 0316301868
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo
Book Review: Leakey's Least Known Field Researcher
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book at a talk by Birute Gladikas at New Mexico State University. I had heard of her work in Borneo, but many of my co-workers did not know who she was, although they would have easily recognized the name of Jane Goodall, and possibly Dian Fossey, in part because Goodall has been more in the news and in part because of Fossey's unfortunate death. As Gladikas gave her talk, it was again impressed on me how heroic all three had been in their efforts to study and then protect the great apes they were assigned. While it has been said that Fossey got too involved with her gorillas, leading to her murder, one can easily understand her rage at human brutality toward her subjects. Both Goodall and Gladikas had to face similar challenges and managed to survive (although not always easily!) For her part, Gladikas has captured the difficulties and triumphs of her life in "Reflections of Edan: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo".
Certainly all three young women faced unbelievable challenges in studying great apes in the wild. Goodall and Fossey had to deal with the political instability in Central Africa at the time of their studies on chimpanzees and gorillas, and Fossey was especially pressed by poachers. To a large degree Gladikas had to deal with both, but she did so with remarkable finesse and diplomacy.
However, as Gladikas would say I'm sure, the real story is about the orangutans themselves. These creatures, which share 97% of our DNA, are as fascinating as the other great apes. These are perhaps among the least social of the apes and harken back to the early evolution of that branch of the primate line. It is a great shame that human greed for palm oil, timber, gold and zircons, as well as poached baby orangutans, has threatened them with extinction. Gladikas, like the other "Leakey angels", has had to turn her attention away from research to the conservation of the Bornean orangutans. She has done this very effectively and I really stand in awe of the difficulties she has faced in her efforts to prevent the loss of these wonderful animals.
I had a short conversation with Birute Gladikas as she signed the book after her talk and this only added to my admiration of her, and of the other women who took on the difficult task of observing wild great apes. I urge anyone who wants to understand the issues involved in the conservation of these wonderful cousins of ours to read this book!
Summary of Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo
Ever since Jane Goodall unlocked the mysteries of wild chimpanzees, and Dian Fossey lived among mountain gorillas, the world has been captivated by primates and the people who study them. Here, at last, is the riveting story of Birute Galdikas, a pioneering primatologist who has spent much of her life studying orangutans. In 1971, twenty-five-year-old Galdikas began living in the remote jungles of Indonesian Borneo, where she encountered menacing poachers, blood-sucking leeches, and swarms of carnivorous insects. Determined to penetrate the world of the elusive "red ape" in the name of science and conservation, Galdikas embarked on a quest of more than twenty years to become the foremost chronicler of orangutan life.Her first task was to forge a bond of trust with the animals, but her initial forays into their world were thwarted by skeptical and territorial orangutans like handsome Cara, who hurled dead branches at Galdikas from the tree canopy above. Eventually, Galdikas became a surrogate member of the community, triumphantly claimed as "mother" by little Sugito, who clung to her fiercely, night and day, for months. Reflections of Eden is an exotic adventure, a history of vital scientific research, and the memoir of a remarkable woman.
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