Montgomery journeys into the guts
of the wildebeest migration with a wildlife biologist who has been learning
these African mammals for greater than 50 years.
Eleven chapters and a reflective
epilogue chronicle a two-week go to to Tanzania’s northern plains with a small
group led by Richard Estes, “the guru of gnu.” Montgomery, who has described
many exceptional scientific discipline journeys for the Scientists within the Subject sequence, goals this report at older
readers who can soak up and act on her underlying message: “All through the
Serengeti, our sort threatens the very survival of the migration we’ve come so
far to witness.” Rigidity heightens because the wildebeest hordes elude them for
days. Lastly, a dramatic automotive breakdown within the wilderness is adopted by “immersion”
in an ocean of migrating gnus—a climax that might be unbelievable in fiction.
Setting this explicit safari in a bigger context, and heightening the
suspense, are interspersed quick segments about Serengeti wildlife, poachers’
snares, the position of fireside, “different magnificent migrants,” and extra. The general
design is inviting and applicable to the topic. There are maps, plentiful
photographs of African animals, and footage and minibiographies of Montgomery’s
all-white safari companions, each American and Tanzanian. Montgomery touches on
the white-directed nature of a lot scientific analysis in Africa in addition to
pressures from colonialism and local weather change however retains her focus tightly on
the wildebeest.
A splendid wildlife journey
skillfully conveyed. (acknowledgments, chosen bibliography, word on
wildebeest conservation and tourism, photograph credit, index) (Nonfiction.
11-adult)
