The Last Unicorn

January 5, 2015
Conservation journalist deBuys (A Great Aridness) deftly takes the role of a quiet observer while conveying a sense of immersion and intimacy as he documents a 2011 expedition for signs of the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), led by field biologist William Robichaud. A phylogenetically distinctive, preternaturally peaceful, reclusive, and nearly extinct ungulate entirely unknown to Western science until 1992, the saola is so rare that it does not even appear in traditional Chinese medicine. In Nakai-Nam Theun, a remote region of Laos on the border of Vietnam, the team drills bits of bone from old antler mounts, places camera traps at salt licks, and scans the forest for evidence of neatly munched vegetation. Showing much admiration for Robichaud and the relationships he has built with the community, deBuys shares stories of the challenging interactions between the locals and Robichaud the outsider, doing so with humor. With a wilderness-loving voice that is lyrical but never saccharine, deBuys elicits a sense of mystery and beauty befitting the creature itself. Maps & photos. Agent: Melissa Chinchillo, Fletcher and Co.

Starred review from January 1, 2015
Dedicated conservationist deBuys (A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest, 2011 etc.) undertakes an arduous trek through the wilds of central Laos in a quest to help save one of the most elusive animals on the planet, the large grazing mammal known as a saola.Following a 2009 lecture in Washington, D.C., in which the author evaluated ongoing efforts to save a forest in central Borneo, he received an intriguing offer. In 1992, the world outside of Southeast Asia became aware of a mysterious mammal when scientists came across a pair of extraordinarily long, tapered horns decorating the wall of a Vietnamese hunter's cabin. Did deBuys have an interest in writing about this reclusive horned animal never seen by Westerners? Two years later, the author traveled to the Annamite mountain range, situated on the border between Laos and Vietnam. He joined an expedition whose immediate goals included studying the animal's habitat, documenting the consistent threat of poaching, and building support for wildlife conservation among the region's inhabitants to "save the saola from extinction." The group traveled through the rugged terrain by car, boat and foot, accompanied by armed guards and porters, to their final destination in a remote forested canyon. The author deftly chronicles both the physical and emotional challenges that come with group travel through an isolated region. He also weaves in abbreviated natural histories of the multitude of indigenous creatures in the area-e.g., the red-shanked douc and ferret badger. DeBuys laments the destruction of the natural environment caused by the illegal harvesting of forest products. The author's immersive narrative and numerous photos of the unremitting poaching inflicted upon the region's wildlife cause both reader engagement and heartache. A riveting and disturbing account of the clash between the beauty of the wilderness and civilization's unrelenting demands on the natural world.

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January 1, 2015

Award-winning author of books including A Great Aridness and River of Traps recounts his journey to the Nakai-Nam Theun region of Laos in search of the saola, an endangered antelopelike creature that has rarely been seen by man. First discovered by Westerners in 1992, the saola piqued interest because of its genetic linkage to prehistoric bovines. As deBuys notes, the creature recalls the mythical unicorn as it has largely evaded discovery, leaving scientists to piece together information based on bone samples, hunter accounts, and photographic evidence. In this book, deBuys narrates the story of the saola through his own experience, showing how poaching, indifference, climate change, and greed continue to threaten the animals' survival. However, the author dives deeper than any ecological treatise, showing readers the beauty of gibbon chatter and "blown-glass waterfalls" and the sheer emotional toil of losing these things. In the tradition of John McPhee and Wallace Stegner, deBuys offers a profoundly personal, richly atmospheric account of a place that the world would be poorer for losing. VERDICT Recommended for readers of popular science, travel, and autobiography.--Talea Anderson, College Place, WA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
When conservationist and writer (A Great Aridness, 2013) deBuys was asked, How would you like to write about saola? his response was what most of us would then ask: About what? The saola, a large animal related to antelope and cattle, only became known to Western science in 1992 and since has been found to not only be rare but also under constant threat from poaching. The author and a field biologist and saola expert set off in 2011 for the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam, the sole home of the saola. In a journey that is as much diplomatic as it is scientific reconnaissance, the two men and their local Lao colleagues traverse Laos' Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Area on foot in search of saola. Disarming snare lines as they go, the group replaces wildlife camera traps and searches for signs of saola and other endangered species. Bickering among themselves as the trails get difficult or disappear and food runs low, they find and destroy poachers' camps and try to engage community support for conserving the forest and its animals. The beauty of the terrain, the complexity of working with local community's conflicting needs, and the wish to bear witness to the diminishing forest all come through in deBuys' heartfelt text.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)