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1-Page Summary of Last Chance to See

Overall Summary

Last Chance to See is a radio documentary series and book by the same name. Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, travels with zoologist Mark Carwardine in search of endangered species on the brink of extinction.

The book begins with John and Steve looking for the Aye-Aye, a primate that was previously thought to be extinct. They decide to begin searching for critically endangered species of animals all around the world.

Three years later, the couple is on a larger trip to find Komodo Dragons. They encounter bureaucracy and tourists in Bali, but they fly to Zaire (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) where they visit mountain gorillas. The park has some northern white rhinoceroses left in it.

The couple takes a helicopter ride to New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park on the South Island. There, they search for the kakapo, a flightless parrot. They don’t find one until they visit Codfish Island.

Adams and Carwardine travel to the Yangtze River in China, where they search for a rare dolphin called the Baiji. The group first visited Beijing, then traveled south to the river. They met with a conservation group that raises money through branding and licensing efforts to save this species of dolphin, which is thought to be reincarnated royalty. This population of dolphins is under increasing stress as their habitat becomes increasingly noisy and polluted by industry on both sides of the river.

The two travel to Mauritius and search for a rare fruit bat on Rodrigues Island. They meet Carl Jones, who runs a captive breeding center that helps endangered species rebound in population. The center has helped the populations of pink pigeons, kestrels, and fruit bats grow over the last decade.

In the chapter “Mark’s Epilogue,” Mark Carwardine shares stories about species that have been saved from extinction. For instance, there were only one hundred Juan Fernandez seals in 1965; now they number three thousand. The Chatham Island robin was down to one pregnant female but has since rebounded to fifty birds. At the same time, poaching is still causing considerable population decline for African elephants and other animals.

In the final chapter, Adams is haunted by a parable from his youth. In this parable, people refuse to pay for all of knowledge in the world. Each time they refuse, half of the knowledge is destroyed and its price goes up. Eventually they pay an exorbitant price for only a fraction of what remains. He warns us that we might extract a terrible price if we don’t act soon to save our wildlife and wild places.

Adams’ humor is evident in his depiction of his travels with Carwardine. The book also addresses the destruction of species on earth and how they are hunted for sport or because people believe in superstition. Their habitats shrink as well, which leads to their extinction.

Last Chance to See was well-received by the public and critics. The book is about two men traveling around the world, telling people about endangered species and trying to conserve them while having fun. The Boston Sunday Herald said that “Perhaps Adams and Carwardine with their witty science will help prevent such misadventures in the future.” In 2009, a follow up show aired on BBC called Last Chance To See Revisited. Stephen Fry replaced Douglas Adams as one of the presenters who traveled around the world looking at twenty of his favorite animals featured in his original radio series. However, there have been no updates or sightings since 1994 for China’s Yangtze River dolphin, which experts believe has probably become extinct.