Title: Life in the valley of death : the fight to save tigers in a land of guns, gold, and greed /
Authors: Rabinowitz, Alan, 1953-2018.
Publisher: Island Press/Shearwater Books,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Rabinowitz, Alan,; Tiger Conservation Burma Hukawng Valley.
Abstract: "Dubbed the "Indiana Jones" of wildlife science by The New York Times, Alan Rabinowitz has devoted - and risked - his life to protect nature's great endangered animals. He has journeyed to the remote corners of the earth in search of wild things, surviving treacherous terrain, plane crashes, and hostile governments. Life in the Valley of Death recounts his most ambitious and dangerous adventure yet: the creation of the world's largest tiger preserve deep in the forests of Asia." "The tale is set in the lush Hukawng Valley of Myanmar (formerly Burma), home to perhaps one of the largest tiger populations outside of India - a population threatened by rampant poaching and gold prospectors. To save the remaining tigers, Rabinowitz must navigate not only an unforgiving landscape, but the tangled web of politics in Myanmar. Confronted with a military dictatorship, an insurgent army, tribes once infamous for taking the heads of their enemies, and villagers living on less than one U.S. dollar per day, the scientist and adventurer is thrust into a diplomatic minefield." "Much more than a wildlife adventure, Life in the Valley of Death is also a personal story of perseverance. Rabinowitz shares his painful struggle to overcome a severe stutter, and how the isolation he felt as a child inspired his love of big cats. Then as an adult working to save Myanmar's tigers, Rabinowitz is diagnosed with incurable cancer. Forced to face the fragility of his own existence, he comes to realize the parallels between the human condition and the fight for wildlife - both requiring constant attention and adaptation."--book jacket.
Contents: Road to nowhere -- Paradise lost -- The valley of death -- Into the Naga hills -- Rolling the dice -- Into the darkness -- Letting go -- Hungry ghosts -- Where there be tigers -- Conservation warfare -- Jungle politics -- Shaping a miracle -- A question of balance -- Burning bright -- Return to the Naga hills -- Spots of time -- Reaching Mr. Analogue.