Gorilla: Struggle for Survival in the Virungas

Gorilla recounts in remarkable color photographs the strange and powerful story of the last few hundred members of a nearly extinct species: the famed mountain gorillas of the Virunga volcanoes. These inhabitants of the forested mountain range bordering Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire, were brought to the attention of the world through last-ditch efforts to preserve their dwindling survival. Told here with rare force and eloquence is the story of a people, the land, the animals, and the environment that struggle to maintain a delicate balance in one remote corner of the earth.

The photographs by Alabama-born adventure photojournalist Michael Nichols were taken during three trips to Africa since 1981. A contract photographer for National Geographic magazine and a former member of Magnum Photos, Nichols is celebrated for stunning color photography, seen in the pages of Geo, Life, Esquire, Travel & Leisure, Stern, Outside, Paris-Match, and the other international magazines. His extraordinary images, both eerie and tender, capture perfectly the fascination of the mountain gorilla.

The authoritative essay by George B. Schaller, Director for Science of Wildlife Conservation International at the New York Zoological Society and author of nine books, including National Book Award winner The Serngeti Lion, summarizes the last two decades in the existence of the gorilla and expands on his own pioneering studies in the late 1960s. Schaller explains how the animals fend off extinction in a beautiful, primitive land, and offers a potent warning of the effects of tampering with a fragile ecosystem.

Since the original publication of this book, the survival of the mountain gorilla-one of the environmental success stories of the world-has been once again thrown into a precarious position due to the unstable political climate in Rwanda. Now more than ever it is important to remember the vital ecological role of these rare animals.