Appointment at the Ends of the World
 William B. Karesh, D.V.M.
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 1999 Warner Books, NY USA
  ISBN: 1567404367


From saving the life of a wounded okapi in Zaire to collecting DNA samples from endangered orangutans in Borneo, this veterinarian cares for & protects animals in some of the most exotic & remote places. Part travelogue, conservation primer & adventure thriller of dangers encountered in our wide, wild world.

This veterinarian will have you packing your bags & heading off with him to keep appointments in Bolivia to track down elusive peccaries; in windswept coastal Peru to make a pediatric house call to boisterous seal pups & deep into the heart of Africa where poachers & marauding soldiers can be just as dangerous as the venomous snakes & safari ants.

Along the way, William Karesh will tell you the stories behind Ecotourism in the Amazon forest; protection strategies for the Korup National Park in Cameroon & the devastation El Niño wrecked upon Peru's coastline. He will introduce you to the people he meets & works with in his vital world wide conservation program; the enthralled ones who linger in those faraway places most of us only see on atlases, those places inhospitable both for humans & strangers; where they labor to slow the decimation of all those creatures that thrilled us as children & which, now as our species is all grown up, have gotten in our way.

Dr. Karesh will show you just how romantic it really is to be on safari in the bush; be swamped by macaws who want to watch you bathe & embrace orangutans who can pick the locks of their cages faster than you can say, abracadabra! He introduces us to vanishing animals, so rare & unprotected it breaks your heart & to the remarkable caregivers he meets on his assignments; from dedicated conservationists to villagers.

Appointment at the Ends of the World is not just a working man's travelog or a “safari with a cause”, it also casts some light on the difficulties of dedicated field staff members in a hungry & prejudiced world; the way animals are captured for collaring & data upkeep; about the devastation of the profusion of Nature which in turn devastates the livelihoods of the humans who depend upon that bounty.

Hidden in all this serious world travel is Dr. Karesh's sense of humor - witness his chapter on the annual November festival among the fur seals along the Peruvian coast. For some reason I kept hearing David Attenborough's voice as I was reading.

A worthy, no frills, read. This Doc realizes he can speak for the voiceless animals of our world. Appointment at the Ends of the World is for anyone remotely interested in the state of our global wildlife, in emergency & research veterinarian medicine in general & in rare & wonderful animals in particular. I do recommend it!

William Karesh, D.V.M., developed & heads the International Field Veterinary Program for the Wildlife Conservation Society. This one-of-kind program provides veterinary services all over the world for wildlife conservation projects. Dr. Karesh, a recognized international authority, has authored more than 75 scientific articles on wildlife health. Contact: Department of Field Veterinary Studies, Wildlife Health Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx, NY 10460 USA Phone: 718-220-5892 Fax: 718-220-7126.

The Wildlife Conservation Society was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society & manages 4 zoos & an aquarium in New York City. It supports over 300 conservation projects in over 50 countries around the world Contact: www.wildlifeconservation.org.
(10/29/00)

Rebecca