In 1993, Alan Rabinowitz, called ""the Indiana Jones"" of wildlife science by The New York Times, arrived for the first time in the country of Myanmar, known until 1989 as Burma, uncertain of what to expect. Working under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society, his goal was to establish a wildlife research and conservation program and to survey the country's wildlife. He succeeded beyond all expectations, not only discovering a species of primitive deer completely new to science but also playing a vital role in the creation of Hkakabo Razi National Park, now one of Southeast Asia's largest protected areas.Beyond the Last Village takes the reader on a journey of exploration, danger, and discovery in this remote corner of the planet at the southeast edge of the Himalayas where tropical rain forest and snow-covered mountains meet. As we travel through this ""lost world"" -- a mysterious and forbidding region isolated by ancient geologic forces -- we meet the Rawang, a former slave group, the Taron, a solitary enclave of the world's only pygmies of Asian ancestry, and Myanmar Tibetans living in the furthest reaches of the mountains. We enter the territories of strange, majestic-looking beasts that few people have ever heard of and fewer have ever seen -- golden takin, red goral, blue sheep, black barking deer. The survival of these ancient species is now threatened, not by natural forces but by hunters with snares and crossbows, trading body parts for basic household necessities.The powerful landscape and unique people the author befriends help him come to grips with the traumas and difficulties of his past and emerge a man ready to embrace the world anew. Interwoven with his scientific expedition in Myanmar, and helping to inform his understanding of the people he met and the situations he encountered, is this more personal journey of discovery.
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Prologue
Chapter 1: Yangon, 1993
Chapter 2: Tarnished Golden Land
Chapter 3: Of Rhinos and Sea-Gypsies
Chapter 4: Gateway to the North
Chapter 5: Last Prayers at Shwedagon
Chapter 6: Into the Triangle
Chapter 7: Savage Land
Chapter 8: For the Love of Salt
Chapter 9: In the Shadow of Hkakabo Razi
Chapter 10: Lost Tribes of TIbet
Chapter 11: Pygmies of the Adung Wang Valley
Chapter 12: The Last Village
Chapter 13: Touching the Snow
Chapter 14: Child of Beyond
Chapter 15: Back into the World
Chapter 16: Genetic Fingerprints
Chapter 17: The Mysterious Leaf Deer
Chapter 18: The Ghost Valley
Chapter 19: Through the Looking Glass
Chapter 20: The Return
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Selected Bibliography
Index
"It feels like Conrad's Heart of Darkness in reverse, as he escapes the 'civilisation' of a brutal military regime to find peace and light in the farthest lands."
