THE GREAT APES: The Natural Life of Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orangutans, and Gibbons

From the author of Children of the Ark (1968, p. 9, J-9), another close look at threatened wildlife, this time the anthropoid apes. In each slightly fictionalized encounter--with chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon--one represents many although others of the same and coexisting species are referred to. The characterizations are abbreviated glimpses of life styles, not complete but fuller than, say, the encyclopedia. According to Gray's calculations, so many of these primates have been shot by hunters or lost en route to zoos that ""By the time your children are grown, there is a very good chance that they will never see a living ape."" (Some ecological side effects are also indicated.) The warning is neither shrill nor weepy, and the photos (several with human counterparts) are pleasing.