Overview

This is the full account of David Attenborough's recent Zoo Quest expedition to the islands of Indonesia. Our plan, he writes, was to travel widely throughout these islands, filming not only animals but also people and their everyday life. Our ultimate objective was to reach a small islet named Komodo, for we were going there to seek one of the most remarkable creatures alive today, the largest lizard in the world, the Komodo dragon. Zoo Quest for a Dragon describes an exciting 3,000-mile journey in Indonesia- to the enchanting island of Bali, where the author and his companion, Charles Lagus, were fascinated by the dancing, music and temples; to Java, where they climbed the sleep slopes of an active volcano and gazed down into the heaving cauldron; and to the interior of Borneo, where they stayed in the longhouses of the Dyak peoples, and observed and captured many animals including Benjamin, the baby bear, and Charlie, a mischievous orang-utan. Finally, in a hazardous voyage by prau under the captaincy of a gun-smuggler, they reached Komodo, and discovered and filmed a fabulous dragon. David Attenborough writes vividly about his travels, the people he met, and the animals he saw and captured. But above all it is an entertaining story, for as in his first book, Zoo Quest to Guiana, the author reveals his irrepressible sense of the ridiculous, his rich vein of humour, and his gift as a brilliant raconteur.

Full Product Details

9780718894795

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

David Attenborough was born at Isleworth, Middlesex, in 1926. In 1932 the family moved to Leicester when his father was appointed Principal of the University College, and he was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School and later won a scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge, where he read zoology, geology and mineralogy, and took an Honours Degree in Natural Sciences. In 1952 he joined the B.B.C. and among the programmes he has produced on television are Animals, Vegetable, Mineral?, Song Hunter, Animal Patterns, It's a Small World, Where on Earth?, Books and Authors, and Travellers' Tales. His Zoo Quest programmes, which he produced and introduced, established him as a leading television personality, and the great success of the first expedition to Sierra Leone led to his travels in British Guiana (described in Zoo Quest to Guiana), Indonesia (the subject of this book), and New Guinea and Northern Australia. David Attenborough (who is the younger brother of Richard Attenborough, the actor), is married, has two children and lives in Richmond. His main interests are music, books and natural history.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available