Ivory, Apes and Peacocks - Alan Root

I remember watching Alan Root's ground breaking nature documentaries as a child on ITV's Survival and it was those that got me hooked on the fauna of Africa. The go-to-man for animals before David Attenborough took over, Root changed the tradition of macho white men molesting animals (the Steve Irwin camp) for thrills and developed the ecological narrative we see in today's programs. This book is an autobiography detailing a career spent filming some of Africa's most fascinating creatures, his battles with conservation and the various tragedies of his personal life. Inevitably, humankind turns out to be the worst animal in the book. With barely suppressed bitterness, Root recounts some of the atrocities conducted in the former Congo, now Zaire region, following its independence and of the general corruption at large in this scarred and war torn continent. It was interesting to see parallels with The Poisonwood Bible, a fictionalised version of events, such as the origins of the miserably malnourished elephant on Mobutu's estate.

The language is down to earth, funny and concise, without the suffocatingly pompous tone normally adopted in books on nature, think more Gerald Durrell than Robert MacFarlane. Root doesn't feel the need to waste too much time educating ignorant readers about obscure wildlife, he seems to take it for granted that you'll know your genets from your mongooses. I found it refreshing that extraneous detail didn't clog up the narrative, after all, it's aimed at people who already have an interest in the genre. The overall spirit of daring that pervades the text is highly reminiscent of Willard Price's adventure books I read as a child. It is a depiction of an almost mythological realm that due to overpopulation, development and poaching is in rapid decline. Legendary locations such as the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater, Olduvai Gorge and the Mountains of the Moon are visited, as well as key figures such as the Adamsons and gorilla woman, Dian Fossey. Quite simply a tour-de-force of a world that sadly no longer exists. I absolutely loved it.

Rating: 5/5