Last Chance to See

question.”
    “Firewood, please.”
    “Now wait a minute,” said the people of the city, “this isn’t doing anybody any good. We’ve been thinking about all this and we’ve put together a small committee to have a look at these books of yours. Let us evaluate them for a few months, see if they’re worth anything to us, and when you come back next year, perhaps we can put in some kind of a reasonable offer. We are not talking sacks of gold here, though.”
    The old woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “Bring me the firewood.”
    “It’ll cost you.”
    “No matter,” said the woman, with a shrug. “The books will burn quite well by themselves.”
    So saying, she set about shredding two of the books into pieces which then burnt easily. She set off swiftly across the plain and left the people of the city to face another year.
    She was back in the late spring.
    “Just the one left,” she said, putting it down on the ground in front of her. “So I was able to bring my own firewood.”
    “How much?” said the people of the city.
    “Sixteen sacks of gold.”
    “We’d only budgeted for eight.”
    “Take it or leave it.”
    “Wait here.”
    The people of the city went off into a huddle and returned half an hour later.
    “Sixteen sacks is all we’ve got left,” they pleaded, “times are hard. You must leave us with something.”
    The old woman just hummed to herself as she started to pile the kindling together.
    “All right!” they cried at last, opened up the gates of the city, and led out two ox carts, each laden with eight sacks of gold. “But it had better be good.”
    “Thank you,” said the old woman, “it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”
    She led the two ox carts away across the plain with her, and left the people of the city to survive as best they could with the one remaining twelfth of all the knowledge and wisdom that had been in the world.

A cknowledgments

    We would like to thank the following people for helping to make this project possible:
Gary “Arab” Aburn
Reinaldo Green
Air France
Terry Greene
Air Zaïre
Linda Guess
Conrad and Ros Aveling
Peter Guzzardi
Hilary Bass
Bob Harris
Jane Belson
Bruce Harris
Bill Black
Rod Hay
Boss
Kes and Fraser Hillman-Smith
Juan Carlos Cardenas
Craig Hodsell
John Clements
Liz Jarvis
Sue Colman
Jersey Zoo
Peter and Linda Daniel
Carl Jones
Mike and Dobbie Dobbins
Zhou Kaiya
Phred Dobbins
Aartee Khosla
Patty Eddy
Kodak UK Ltd.
Margaret Edridge
Jurgen Langer
Steven Faux
Annette E. Lanjouw
John Fontana
Lisa Lawley
Sue Freestone
Alain le Garsmeur
Fuji Films
Richard Lewis
Lisa Glass
Roberto Lira
Michael Green
London Zoo
Charles and Jane Mackie
Putra Sastrawan
Marina Mahon
Gaynor Shutte
Rob Malpas
Ivan Leiva Silva
Andrew Martin
Laurie Stark
Mark McCauslin
Neville Stevenson
David McDowell
Wendy Strahm
Don Merton
Godofredo Stutzin
Doreen Montgomery
Miguel Stutzin
Phil Morley
Condo Subagyo
Chris Muir
Struan Sutherland
Nikon UK Ltd.
Kirsty Swynnerton
Mary Ellen O’Neill
Debra Taylor
Bill Peabody
Ron Tindal
Chen Peixun
Tongling Baiji Conservation
Susan Petersen
Association
Jean-Jacques Petter
Daniel Torres
David Pratt
Ed Victor
Red Cross
Sue Warner
Liu Renjun
Carlos Weber
Marcia Ricci
Bob Wyatt
Bernadette Salhi
 

O ne M ore C hance …

    If you would like to make a contribution to help with the conservation work for any of the animals featured in this book, please send checks payable to the organisations listed below. Don’t forget to state to which project you would like the money to go.
Madagascar:
Madagascar Fund

World Wide Fund for Nature
1196 Gland, Switzerland
Indonesia:
Komodo Dragon
c/o
PHPA

Jalan Suwung 40
P.O. Box 320
Denpasar, Bali
Indonesia
Zaïre:
Rhino Anti-Poaching
   Operation and Mountain
   Gorilla Project
c/o
IUCN

Regional Office: Eastern Africa
P.O. Box 68200
Nairobi, Kenya
New Zealand:
Kakapo Recovery Program
c/o
Threatened Species Trust

Department of Conservation
Box 10420
Wellington, New Zealand
China:
Baiji Dolphin Conservation
   Project
c/o
People’s Trust for Endangered

Species

Hamble House
Meadrow, Godalming
Surrey GU7 3JX
UK
or:
c/o
West Coast Whale Research

  
Foundation

P.O. Box 1768
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
USA
Mauritius:
Mauritius Wildlife Project
Mauritius Wildlife Appeal Fund

10, Dr. Ferriere Street
Port Louis, Mauritius
Indian Ocean