The front cover of the first US hardcover edition of Last Chance to See.

The front cover of the CD-ROM box set edition of Last Chance to See for computers running Windows 3.1 or later.

The book Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine was first published in 1990, as a companion to the BBC radio series of the same name. The theme of documentary was to feature animal species which were endangered or threatened with extinction. Image File history File links Last_Chance_to_See_Harmony_front. ... Image File history File links Last_Chance_to_See_Harmony_front. ... Image File history File links Last_Chance_to_See_Voyager_front. ... Image File history File links Last_Chance_to_See_Voyager_front. ... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ... Mark Carwardine (born 1959-03-09) is a zoologist, who at one time was affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, and has been a free lance writer, photographer and zoologist since 1986. ... See also: 1989 in literature, other events of 1990, 1991 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... The Dodo, shown here in a 1651 illustration by Jan Savery, is an often-cited[1] example of modern extinction. ...

The Observer Colour Magazine initiated moves in 1985 to send a zoologist, Mark Carwardine, and a writer, Douglas Adams, to Madagascar, to search for the aye-aye, a nearly extinct lemur. Later this developed into several journeys to find various species, including the Komodo dragon on the island of Komodo in Indonesia, gorillas and white rhinoceroses in Zaire, Kakapos in New Zealand, the Yangtze River Dolphin in China, Rodrigues fruit bats (megabat) on the island of Rodrigues, and various other species in these locations. Many of these excursions became the basis for the BBC Radio 4 series of the same name. Binomial name Daubentonia madagascariensis Gmelin, 1788 The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the ecological niche of a woodpecker. ... Superfamilies and Families Cheirogaleoidea Cheirogaleidae Lemuroidea Lemuridae Lepilemuridae Indriidae Lemurs make up the infraorder Lemuriformes and are members of a class of primates known as prosimians . ... Binomial name Ouwens, 1912 Komodo dragon distribution The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), also known as the Komodo Monitor, Komodo Island Monitor, Ora (to the natives of Komodo[2]), or simply Komodo, is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2-3 metres (approximately 6. ... Komodo is an island of Indonesia, one of the places where the Komodo dragon can be found in the wild. ... Type species Troglodytes gorilla Savage, 1847 distribution of Gorilla Species Gorilla gorilla Gorilla beringei The gorilla, the largest of the living primates, is a ground-dwelling omnivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. ... Binomial name Ceratotherium simum Burchell, 1817 The White Rhinoceros original range (orange: Northern (C. s. ... Binomial name Strigops habroptilus Gray, 1845 The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptilus (from the Greek strix, genitive strigos: owl and ops: face; and habros: soft, and ptilon: feather), also called owl parrot, is a species of nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand. ... Binomial name Lipotes vexillifer Miller, 1918 Natural range of the Baiji The Baiji (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) (Lipotes vexillifer, Lipotes meaning left behind, vexillifer flag bearer) was a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River in China. ... See also the band, Fruit Bats. ... Map of Rodrigues Rodrigues (or, incorrectly, Rodriguez) is one of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

Many of the excursions were written into the companion book, though not all, allegedly due to Douglas' notorious writing delays. An example is that of the Amazonian Manatee, covered in a radio episode first transmitted on 18 October, 1989, but not in the subsequent book. Binomial name Trichechus inunguis (Natterer, 1883) The Amazonian Manatee Trichechus inunguis is a species of manatee that lives in the freshwater habitats of the Amazon River and its tributaries. ...

The first American hardcover edition was published by Harmony Books in 1991 (under ISBN 0-517-58215-5) and the first German paperback edition was published in 1992 by Heyne (under ISBN 3-453-06115-2). These varying editions are notable for carrying slightly different photographs of the journeys. An abridged audiobook read by Adams was also published.

The Voyager Company also published a 2 CD-ROM set (for Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Macintosh System 7), in 1992, featuring over 800 still photographs, Douglas reading the complete book, Mark reading fact files on the species they searched for, and extracts from the BBC Radio 4 series. The Voyager Company was a pioneer in CD-ROM production in the 1980s and early 1990s. ...

The progress of all the animals are brought up-to-date at Another Chance To See.

In April 2007 a follow-up television series, also called Last Chance to See with Stephen Fry joining Mark Carwardine as presenters, and Douglas Adams contributing via audio recordings, was announced as a BBC / Isotar co-production. ^[1] This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Mark Carwardine (born 1959-03-09) is a zoologist, who at one time was affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund, and has been a free lance writer, photographer and zoologist since 1986. ... Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.iostar.tv/factual/lastchancetosee.html

• Adams, D., Carwardine, M., Last Chance to See, ISBN 0-330-32002-5 Pan Books, London, 1991
• Adams, D., Carwardine, M., Last Chance to See (Windows CD-ROM set), ISBN 1-55940-427-2 The Voyager Company, New York, 1992.
• Gaiman, N., Don't Panic - Douglas Adams & the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, ISBN 1-84023-742-2 Titan Books, London, 1993