Page 12 - Martin Downs Bulletin - September '20

Page 12, Martin Downs

booK revIew

The Magnificent Migration: On full-color photographs in order to appeal to a wider range story of how the largest bird in North America, the

Safari With Africa’s Last Great of readers as young as preteens because of their exciting California condor – with a wingspan of 10 feet – has
come from near extinction with a population of only one
subject matter.
Herds And Condor Comeback These two new titles are in that category. Since the bird in the wild in 1987 to a total now of about 460.
books are written for an adult level, however, even such This conservation miracle is due to the work of
By Nils A. Shapiro media as The Washington Post continue to review them dedicated scientists, volunteers and everyday citizens
“The grass is the color of as adult books, and with the high praise they deserve. engaged in a program to capture, tag with telemetry and
lions.” In The Magnificent Migration, Sy Montgomery takes track adult birds; raise abandoned chicks; nurse sick birds
This graceful opening you along with her, day by day, on the African safari she back to health and conduct groundbreaking research that
sentence of The Magnificent experienced as part of a small group of five others, led has inspired legislation banning the single most lethal
Migration offers half the by her friend of thirty years, Dr. Richard Despard Estes, threat to the wild condor population: lead from bullets,
reason why Sy Montgomery, acknowledged the world over as the leading expert on which has been a major cause of destruction.
the author of these two new wildebeests, the bearded antelope species also called It is an inspiring story for anyone of any age who cares
books and 30 others, has “gnus.” about the creatures with whom we share this world. And,
been referred to by The As Sy explains, “Like no other event in nature, once again, with Sy Montgomery as our guide we learn
Boston Globe as “part the wildebeest migration defines wild Africa. The along with her so much that, for me, was surprising about
Indiana Jones and part Emily extravagance of their number stupefies: one and a these awesome birds.
Dickinson.” quarter million wildebeests, in separate herds of tens Related as they are to vultures, with their bald heads
As pointed out in numerous descriptions of her, of thousands, all on the move at once, accompanied by and wrinkled faces, sharp curved beaks, large turkey-
“In order to research her books, films and articles, Sy hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles. It is the type legs and claws, and the fact that they feed on
Montgomery has been chased by an angry silverback largest mass movement of animals on land.” dead carcasses, I had always thought of them as ugly
gorilla in Zaire and bitten by a vampire bat in Costa Rica, But that is only the beginning. The sheer volume of and fearsome. My feelings about them now, after what
worked in a pit crawling with 18,000 snakes in Manitoba what you learn in these pages is staggering – not only I have learned from Montgomery, could not be more
and handled a wild tarantula in French Guiana. She has about wildebeests, zebras, gazelles and giraffes, but also opposite of that, to the point where I can truly view them
been deftly undressed by an orangutan in Borneo, hunted about the lions, jackals and hyenas that follow the herds as beautiful for the creatures they truly are: wonderful,
by a tiger in India and swum with piranhas, electric eels across the vast Serengeti, the crocodiles that lay in wait faithful parents; gentle of disposition; growing to four feet
and dolphins in the Amazon. She has searched the Altai at the river crossings, the imposing and powerful hippos. in height with wingspans of 10 feet; graceful in flight,
Mountains of Mongolia’s Gobi for snow leopards, hiked And when your open-sided Land Cruiser vehicle breaks soaring for miles at speeds of 55 miles an hour without
into the trackless cloud forest of Papua New Guinea to down in the middle of lion country just before nightfall, once flapping their wings ... and playing a critical role
radio collar tree kangaroos and learned to scuba dive in miles from any village, and your mobile phones are unable in cleaning up the carcasses of dead animals that would
order to commune with octopuses.” to connect with service, the tension becomes palpable! otherwise rot and pose environmental problems.
It is no wonder that many of her books have been This is as close to an on the spot safari experience you As Sy’s research has her participating in each step of
worldwide bestsellers, and that she has been honored will ever have without traveling to Africa. And along the capture, tagging, checkup and tracking process, she
wi t h num e rous the journey she offers a bonus – descriptions of such takes you with her, introducing you to the professionals
literary awards. remarkable other migrations as: the five-mile, week- and volunteers who make it all possible – and who will
I n t e r e st i n g l y , long trip of 40 million Christmas Island red crabs off surely inspire many of this book’s readers to consider
while she writes Australia’s Indian Ocean coast; the loggerhead sea turtles’ taking the same path, or at least finding out more about
all of her books migration that can take up to 15 years to complete; the how we can all help from the many references she
in the same lively billions of pilchard sardines in a giant school miles across provides in the book’s final pages.
and impressively along the east coast of South Africa from May to July to I have some reason for confidence in making that last
informative style fertilize their eggs, attracting predators swooping from the statement: When arriving for a recent appointment for
that have won her skies and sharks, dolphins and others from the depths of an annual medical checkup, I was greeted by my doctor
a legion of devoted the ocean; the round-trip journey of 300 million monarch with a warm “Thank you” and handshake. Recognizing
adult fans, about butterflies that takes four generations of their families to my surprise, he explained that during my last visit I had
half of her 32 books complete ... and the tiny, floating sea organisms called mentioned to him my having read and absolutely loved
have been presented zooplankton all over the world’s oceans, most two-tenths (and reviewed in my column) Sy Montgomery’s The Soul
by her publishers in of an inch or smaller, that migrate vertically from the of an Octopus, a book which I later learned was on the
oversized formats depth to the surface and back down again each night, in adult bestseller lists in 25 countries around the world!
with many large swarms totaling a billion tons! My doctor purchased a copy for his 16-year-old son,
Try learning that from the average safari guide! on whom it made such an impression that he decided to
***** pursue a career as a zoologist. My doctor is delighted,
The other new book by Sy Montgomery is very and thanked me for that.
different, in many ways. While the subject of the migration When you have thoroughly enjoyed The Magnificent
book, the many thousands of wildebeests, fills her view Migration and Condor Comeback, think about sharing
from horizon to them with others in your family. You never know....
horizon, and
the thrumming
sound of their
combined
hooves and
roaring “Neeh!
Noo! Neeh!
Noo!” pounds in
Wildebeest calves have evolved to already be able to run her ears, Condor
seven minutes after birth, in order to keep up with the herd Comeback tells At left, a young girl compares her outstretched arms against
and avoid predators that stalk the slow, sick and wounded. the dram ati c a display of the California Condor’s 10-foot wingspan.

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