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| Gorilla Doctors:Saving Endangered Great Apes (Scientists in the Field Series) | 
| Author: Pamela S. Turner
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy Used: $3.34
You Save: $13.66 (80%)
New (28) from $7.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 86433
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 64
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 9.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0618445552
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.95988416096751
EAN: 9780618445554
ASIN: 0618445552
Publication Date: May 27, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Publisher: Houghton MifflinDate of Publication: 2005Binding: Hard CoverCondition: Very GoodDescription: 0618445552 A former library book with the usual identifiers in a protective glossy dust jacket covering. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. 2005 Houghton Mifflin Hard Cover
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| Customer Reviews:
The Great Apes Care in their Mountain Greenery March 26, 2008
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
This was the book I chose for my 1st grade after a day at the Santa Barbara Zoo, from their super gift shop.
That zoo has two gorillas. They are always so sad to me, I've also seen them really angry, agitated...I struggle with this zoo exhibit. It's odd for me. Not done well in my opinion. In a pretty nice zoo. It just feels wrong to me, I don't know why. This is not the life they deserve. It feels a cousin in lock-up really. I think so much more could be, it seems so. But our day to visit the zoo Monday, we did not get to see them, and that was disappointing to the kids. ( I was relieved)
So we got a very good book instead. It tells about the efforts of a team in the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. MGVP. The book has long text for 1st grade (pretty complicated thought for my kids), I did a little reader editing to present it orally to the class, but it is a perfect book for children with great language (young) or about third grade.
This book addresses the vet care in the wild for these wonderful animals so seriously affected by the intrusion of man into their mountain home in Africa. A doctor group has come there to work to try to keep them alive and healthy. The book talks about the first historical contact in Rwanda (showing the pictures of gorillas killed) early contact with people who feared them, really the history of those coming to realize the need to study gorillas and then working to shift from a perspective of hunting and abusing them to a protection aspect. I'm really glad to learn who preceded Fossey and the way this creature, this being, is being helped now.
I thought perhaps it was completely eroded and nothing was working to save them now. I'd become afraid to know. So few exist in the wild, it really hurts to learn the numbers. And then you learn how poachers damage their health as you follow these doctors caring for them in the wild. And why do that, why provide so much intervention? Well you learn that actually most of their health problem comes from man, the poaching traps damage their hands and feet, the diseases that spread. You learn you could give them blood, you are so closely related! But you can also give your measles and other illnesses. And this has created a lot of illness across the species lines. I had no idea.Well no idea hat this has wrought. Before her death Fossey realized and was stating that the interaction with man was a health disaster for the gorilla. She was questioning her own presence and what all of this wrought for these creatures.
So they catch the illnesses of those living close to them. And many of those illnesses kill them. So the book talks to this in terms of doing something about it. Very important information for children. A wonderful read for, say, a fourth grader or a child inspired by the great apes. There are stories of babies abandoned and raised by the doctors, just many fascinating pictures and good text.
I teach conservation, love of the wild, respect for animals, the tragic consequences of our actions on animal populations as a part of our curriculum. This spoke to the desperate situation so well, the story of this medical group that has come to do all it can to study the issues as they rise to meet the challenges in the moment. If...only.
A great book to add to a collection. Super. Great series.
May they succeed in something so overwhelmingly impossible I cannot imagine the odds. May these beautiful animals survive.
 A close connection March 3, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
From the compelling portrait on the front cover, the photographs are one of the strongest features of this book. There are full-page photos of gorilla hands and feet that would be wonderful for actual comparison to a young readers' hands and feet. And this comparison would support one of the key messages of this book: humans and gorillas are very much alike. Sometimes that similarity is not such a good thing; for example, as humans and gorillas come into closer contact, the apes are catching human diseases which are hard for them to fight. Gorilla Doctors describes the work of veterinarians and other scientists who are struggling to keep the great apes safe in the wild. The language is very accessible, and could even work for a read-aloud to a younger child who's particuarly interested in gorillas.
Fascinating account of gorilla vets at work July 5, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This engaging book follows staff members of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project as they provide medical care to endangered gorillas in Rwanda. Turner combines compelling stories of individual gorillas with clear explanations of how diseases are transferred between species. Kids will be intrigued by the detective work required to diagnose gorillas from a distance. Highly recommended.
You'll feel like you're there June 7, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A vivid portrayal of important work being done by gorilla vets in Rwanda. Written by a science writer who is also a skilled storyteller, it gives the reader a first-hand look at the plight of gorillas and what is being done to help them. Accounts of charming individual animals bring emotion to the fact-packed text.
Exploring an Endangered Species May 31, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
GORILLA DOCTORS takes readers into the amazing world of gorillas and introduces us to a group of dedicated veterinarians who are passionate about saving this endangered species. Pamela Turner does a fabulous job of explaining the problems the doctors face, while giving readers a sense of place for that part of the world that most of us will never see. Well illustrated with touching and informative photos of the scientists and apes.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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