Schaller, George B. 1933- (George Schaller, George Beals Schaller)

PERSONAL:

Born May 26, 1933, in Berlin, Germany; son of Georg L. (in business) and Bettina Schaller; married Kay Morgan, August 26, 1957; children: George Eric, Mark Andrew. Education: University of Alaska, B.S. in zoology, B.A. in anthropology, 1955; University of Wisconsin, M.S., 1957, Ph.D., 1962.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10460.

CAREER:

Writer, zoologist, field biologist, conservationist, naturalist, researcher, and educator. Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA, fellow, 1962-63; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 1963-66, began as research associate, became assistant professor; Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY, science director, 1966—, became vice president of Science and Exploration Program and Ella Millbank Foshay Chair in Wildlife Conservation; New York Zoological Society, New York, NY, research associate, 1966-79, director of Animal Research and Conservation Center, beginning 1979. American Museum of Natural History, research associate.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, fellow, 1962; Guggenheim fellowship, 1971; National Book Award, 1973, for The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations; Order of Golden Ark, Netherlands, 1978; Gold Medal, World Wildlife Fund, 1980; Explorers Medal, Explorers Club, 1990; International Cosmos Prize, Japan, 1996; Tyler Environmental Prize, 1997; Kaplan Prize for lifetime achievement in wildcat conservation, 2007.

WRITINGS:

The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1963.

The Year of the Gorilla, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1964, reprinted with a new foreword by the author, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1988.

The Deer and the Tiger: A Study of Wildlife in India, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1967.

(With M. Selsam) The Tiger: Its Life in the Wild, Harper (New York, NY), 1969.

The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1972.

Serengeti: A Kingdom of Predators, Knopf (New York, NY), 1972.

Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, Knopf (New York, NY), 1973, reprinted with a new afterword, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1983.

(With wife, Kay Schaller) Wonders of Lions, Dodd (New York, NY), 1977.

Mountain Monarchs: Wild Sheep and Goats of the Himalaya, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1977.

Stones of Silence: Journeys in the Himalaya, Viking (New York, NY), 1980, illustrated with sketches by Jean Pruchnik and photographs by George B. Schaller, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1988.

(With John Bonnett Wexo and Charles R. Schroeder) Giant Pandas, Creative Education (Mankato, MN), 1989.

(With Hu Jinchu, Pan Wenshi, and Zhujing) Gorilla: Struggle for Survival in the Virungas, photographs by Michael Nichols, edited with captions by Nan Richardson, Aperture (New York, NY), 1989.

The Last Panda, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1993, reprinted with a new afterword, 1994.

Tibet's Hidden Wilderness: Wildlife and Nomads of the Chang Tang Reserve, photographs by George B. Schaller, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1997.

Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.

(Coeditor, with Elisabeth S. Vrba) Antelopes, Deer, and Relatives: Fossil Record, Behavioral Ecology, Systematics, and Conservation, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2000.

(Author of essay and photographer) Giant Pandas in the Wild: Saving an Endangered Species, text and photographs by Lu Zhi, preface by Claude Martin, introduction by Pan Wenshi, Aperture (New York, NY), 2002.

(And photographer) A Naturalist and Other Beasts: Tales from a Life in the Field (memoir), Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

Contributor of articles to zoological journals and to popular magazines, including Outdoor Life, Animal Kingdom, National Geographic, Natural History, International Wildlife, Ford Times, and Life.

SIDELIGHTS:

A prominent zoologist, conservationist, and field biologist, George B. Schaller is the author of numerous works of natural history, many of which are highly respected award winners. Bryan Walsh, writing in Time, noted that Schaller bears a reputation as "the world's finest field biologist," earned through his dedicated on-site work, his thoroughgoing scientific research, and his authoritative yet accessible writing. Michael Kiefer, writing in 1994 in International Wildlife, described Schaller this way: "In photos, Schaller is stiffly handsome, but in person he is loose and lanky, with a warm smile. Though his hair is graying, he looks more like a man in his late forties than early sixties. He is so modest regarding his accomplishments that his sons did not realize his prominence until their college professors asked if they were related to the George Schaller. The George Schaller," Kiefer continued, "is the world's foremost field biologist and a senior statesman of wildlife conservation." Schaller's approach to wildlife biology and conservation isn't restricted just to the species that interest him; rather, his approach is comprehensive and includes consideration of the whole environment and all species that any endangered creature encounters. "Schaller, rather than focusing on a single species or issue, seeks to understand the big picture, to learn how species relate to their environment and to other creatures in it, including people," Kiefer remarked. A dedicated conservationist, Schaller works tirelessly to help sustain the existence of animals such as pandas, tigers, and the chiru, a small Tibetan antelope hunted nearly to extinction for its fine wool and the luxurious shahtoosh fabric that is made from it.

In 1973 Schaller received the National Book Award for The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations, which a Saturday Review critic called "the most comprehensive scientific study of free-living lions." Before writing the book, Schaller spent four years doing intensive research and conducting field studies to examine the role of the lion as an integral part of the African ecological system. J.M. Becker asserted in Library Journal that the "great many facts about the large predators [that are presented in The Serengeti Lion] add to the understanding of how these animals can best be preserved and managed." A reviewer for Choice credited Schaller with "another pioneering investigation of large mammals which will contribute to a growing interest in their study and conservation." A number of critics praised Schaller's ability to present technical material in a lively yet detailed and accurate manner. E.O. Wilson, for example, wrote in Science: "If you have only enough time to read one book about field biology, this is the one I recommend. Schaller continues the best tradition of Fraser Darling, Paul Errington, and Adolf Murie…. The organization and illustrations are sound, and the writing is sometimes delightful. Schaller has the master's ability to enliven his scientific report with brief personal anecdotes and expressions of personal emotion that do not lose objectivity or even noticeably digress from the data." C.P. Haskins stated in the New York Times Book Review: "Schaller combines in a most fortunate degree the professional training of a zoologist with the qualities of an exceedingly sensitive and imaginative writer, imbued with a devotion to his subject that illumines his pages. [The Serengeti Lion opens] the gates to Schaller's world for the less technically-minded reader, and brings him the methods and results of the author's study."

Schaller moves his attention from Africa to Asia in The Giant Pandas of Wolong, addressing a mammal species that he will revisit in subsequent books. Here, Schaller reports on an eighteen-month scientific study conducted in the Wolong Reserve in China. "The volume is unique not only in its inception and development but also in offering the first glimpse of the giant panda within its remote mountain home in western China," noted Devra G. Kleiman and John Seidensticker in Science. Schaller focuses closely on the pandas and their diet mainstay, bamboo, noting that bamboo makes up ninety-nine percent of the animals' food intake. The book contains reports derived from radio telemetry, mapping, and tracking of seven individual pandas that provides the "first information on home range size, movements, activity budgets, and behavior of giant pandas in the wild," stated Kleiman and Seidensticker.

In The Last Panda, Schaller recounts his field work from 1980 to 1985, in which he and his wife, Kay, tracked, monitored, and observed pandas in the wild in China. They discovered that only about one thousand pandas currently exist in the wild, and that their isolated populations are endangered by poaching and the gradual loss of the bamboo forests. He notes that this state of affairs has resulted in the discontinuation of China's once-famous program of sealing diplomatic relations with gifts of live pandas. Instead, China now offers pandas for rent to zoos that wish to display the animals. Schaller looks also at the World Wildlife Fund's panda conservation strategy and the troubles involved in implementing it. "Schaller's account offers a striking example of the conflict between politics and conservation," commented a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. Smithsonian contributor Donald Dale Jackson called the book a "nicely crafted blend of wildlife observation and political-cultural analysis."

Schaller again considers the nature and status of the panda in Giant Pandas in the Wild: Saving an Endangered Species. In this volume, he teams with another panda expert, Lu Zhi, to document the panda's behavior and habitat in text and photographs. Library Journal reviewer Deborah Emerson called the book "a significant contribution to the public's understanding of this unique animal."

In Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, Schaller presents a "measured scientific study of a threatened ecosystem," noted Laurence A. Marschall in Sciences. He focuses his attention on the wildlife and ecology of this remote, harsh area north of the Himalayas, on the Tibetan Plateau, some 15,000 feet above sea level. In the first half of the twentieth century, the area was occupied by nomadic herdsmen and a variety of exotic animals, including snow leopards, kiangs (wild asses), blue sheep, yaks, Bactrian camels, argalis (a species of large sheep), and other creatures. Encroachment by outside forces began in the 1950s, when roads and outposts were built on the plateau. Since then, human population in the area has increased, placing the entire natural ecosystem of the Tibetan Steppe in greater danger. Schaller pays particular attention to how changes in the plateau will affect larger mammals such as the chiru, a small antelope that exists nowhere else in the world. He also discusses ecology, climate, and vegetation of the region, and how the various species of animals interact with their surroundings. Booklist contributor Nancy Bent observed that much of Schaller's work in this volume is "basic natural history and is, therefore, the state of the art." In this book, Schaller's "careful field notes, burnished by luminous flashes of descriptive prose, will preserve a living portrait of the plateau in all its isolated splendor—just as that isolation is coming to an end," Marschall concluded.

Schaller looks back over his career of more than a half century in his memoir, A Naturalist and Other Beasts: Tales from a Life in the Field. He recounts stories of his adventures and experiences in many remote and exotic locations around the globe, including China, Mongolia, Africa, and the Tibetan Plateau. Throughout, he displays his love for the natural environment and the animals he studies and maintains his concern for their continued existence in a world where wildlife and the untouched wilderness that sustains them is shrinking at an alarming rate. Schaller "presents exciting animal lore that will inspire readers to learn more about these precious creatures," commented Pamela Crossland, writing in Booklist.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Schaller, George B., A Naturalist and Other Beasts: Tales from a Life in the Field (memoir), Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

PERIODICALS

American Anthropologist, June, 1968, review of The Deer and the Tiger: A Study of Wildlife in India, p. 649.

American Biology Teacher, November-December, 1996, Evelyn Ono Vineberg, review of The Last Panda, p. 506.

American Journal of Sociology, November, 1966, review of The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior, p. 315.

American Libraries, April, 1970, review of The Tiger: Its Life in the Wild, p. 387.

Animal Behaviour, June, 1989, Katherine Ralls, review of Stones of Silence: Journeys in the Himalaya, p. 1059.

Atlantic, April, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 129.

Audubon, September, 1980, Frank Graham, review of Stones of Silence, p. 28.

Best Sellers, August 1, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 196; December 1, 1972, review of Serengeti: A Kingdom of Predators, p. 422; July, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 156.

BioScience, November, 1986, Norman Myers, review of The Giant Pandas of Wolong, p. 676.

Booklist, June 15, 1967, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 1080; June 1, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 1127; December 1, 1972, review of The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations, p. 321; April 1, 1973, review of Serengeti, p. 736; February 1, 1974, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 562; April 1, 1977, review of Mountain Monarchs: Wild Sheep and Goats of the Himalaya, p. 357; February 15, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 811; December 1, 1997, Donna Seaman, review of Tibet's Hidden Wilderness: Wildlife and Nomads of the Chang Tang Reserve, p. 603; April 15, 1998, Nancy Bent, review of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, p. 1405; December 1, 1998, Nancy Bent, review of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, p. 629; April 15, 2003, Nancy Bent, review of Giant Pandas in the Wild: Saving an Endangered Species, p. 1437; April 1, 2007, Pamela Crossland, review of A Naturalist and Other Beasts: Tales from a Life in the Field, p. 11.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 149.

Canadian Forum, April, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 24.

Choice, July, 1967, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 549; March, 1973, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 132; April, 1974, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 282; June, 1978, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 572.

Christian Science Monitor, March 10, 1980, Spencer Punnett, review of Stones of Silence, p. 1; October 8, 1982, Timothy Aeppel, review of Stones of Silence, p. 5; January 26, 1995, Kim Campbell, review of The Last Panda, p. 4.

Economist, April 10, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 197.

English Journal, October, 1975, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 90.

Grade Teacher, January, 1972, review of The Tiger, p. 86.

Hindu, September 23, 2006, G. Ananthakrishnan, interview with George B. Schaller.

Horn Book, February, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 78.

International Wildlife, July-August, 1994, Michael Kiefer, "Of Pandas and Principles," profile of George B. Schaller.

Journal of Asian History, spring, 1999, Ruth I. Meserve, review of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 312; August 15, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 951; September 15, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 1050; February 1, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 201; March 15, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 376.

Library Journal, October 15, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 3835; November 15, 1972, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 3722; February 15, 1973, review of Serengeti, p. 555; March 1, 1973, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 701; August, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 2320; November 15, 1977, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 2357; March 1, 1980, Laurie Bartolini, review of Stones of Silence, p. 624; March 1, 1993, Beth Clewis, review of The Last Panda, p. 105; May 15, 1998, Lynn C. Badger, review of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, p. 108; May 1, 2003, Deborah Emerson, review of Giant Pandas in the Wild, p. 151; April 15, 2007, Marianne Stowell Bracke, review of A Naturalist and Other Beasts, p. 114.

Listener, June 26, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 839.

Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1985, David Graber, review of The Giant Pandas of Wolong, p. 7.

Nation, March 15, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 313.

National Review, December 8, 1972, review of Serengeti, p. 1362.

Natural History, October, 1979, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 129; January, 1981, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 96; January, 1989, review of Gorilla: Struggle for Survival in the Virungas, p. 28.

New Statesman, May 21, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 813.

Newsweek, March 31, 1980, Jean Strouse, review of Stones of Silence, p. 77.

New Yorker, May 19, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 162.

New York Review of Books, January 25, 1973, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 19; September 28, 1978, Robert M. Adams, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 10.

New York Times Book Review, April 20, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 40; November 9, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 61; December 3, 1972, reviews of Serengeti and The Serengeti Lion, p. 6; November 11, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 10; December 2, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 79; March 18, 1980, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Stones of Silence, p. 11; March 23, 1980, Jeremy Bernstein, review of Stones of Silence, p. 9; October 29, 1982, "Manitoban Fall: Polar Bears, Followed by Tourists," p. 2; April 9, 1989, Maggie Nichols, review of Gorilla, p. 32; February 4, 1990, "Huge New Reserve for Tibet Wildlife; China Agrees to Help Protect Exotic and Pristine Region the Size of Colorado," p. 5; February 6, 1990, "Field Biologist with Daunting Mission: Saving a Corner of the World," profile of George B. Schaller, p. 4; March 28, 1993, "A Beautiful Obituary Won't Help," p. 18; December 5, 1993, review of The Last Panda, p. 82; November 13, 1994, review of The Last Panda, p. 72; December 4, 1994, review of The Last Panda, p. 89.

Observer (London, England), April 11, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 30; October 5, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 29.

People, June 14, 1999, Julie K.L. Dam, "Fashion Victims: Conservationist George Schaller Fights to Save Rare Antelopes—Killed for Their Silken Fur—from Extinction," profile of George B. Schaller, p. 133.

Publishers Weekly, December 26, 1966, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 90; March 3, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 59; July 24, 1972, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 68; January 25, 1980, review of Stones of Silence, p. 329; February 15, 1993, review of The Last Panda, p. 218; February 12, 2007, review of A Naturalist and Other Beasts, p. 78.

Punch, May 5, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 677.

Quarterly Review of Biology, September, 1989, review of Stones of Silence, p. 334; March, 1994, Kay E. Holekamp, review of The Last Panda, p. 109.

Saturday Review, April 24, 1971, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 33; October 28, 1972, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 78; December 2, 1972, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 84.

Science, March 3, 1967, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 1093; February 2, 1973, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 466; May 12, 1978, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 656; May 17, 1985, Devra G. Kleiman and John Seidensticker, review of The Giant Pandas of Wolong, p. 875.

Science 80, January-February, 1980, James K. Page, review of Stones of Silence, p. 88.

Science Books & Films, May, 1967, review of The Deer and the Tiger, p. 57; September, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 161; March, 1973, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 340; March, 1978, review of Wonders of Lions, p. 223; December, 1978, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 166.

Sciences, July-August, 1998, Laurence A. Marschall, review of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe, p. 53.

Scientific American, December, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 138.

Sierra, September, 1978, review of Mountain Monarchs, p. 46.

Smithsonian, March, 1980, Michael Olmert, review of Stones of Silence, p. 154; May, 1995, Donald Dale Jackson, review of The Last Panda, p. 128.

Time, October 10, 2007, Bryan Walsh, profile of George Schaller.

Times Educational Supplement, October 27, 1978, review of Wonders of Lions, p. 24.

Times Literary Supplement, August 19, 1965, review of The Year of the Gorilla, p. 718; May 25, 1973, review of Serengeti, p. 597.

Washington Post, June 23, 1985, David C. Taylor, review of The Giant Pandas of Wolong, p. 7.

Washington Post Book World, May 4, 1969, review of The Tiger, p. 34; December 10, 1972, review of Serengeti, p. 6; December 30, 1973, review of Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves, p. 1; March 7, 1976, review of The Serengeti Lion, p. 7.

Wilson Quarterly, winter, 1994, review of The Last Panda, p. 97.

ONLINE

Science Blog,http://www.scienceblog.com/ (June 18, 2003), profile of George B. Schaller.

Wildlife Conservation Society's Science and Exploration Program Web site,http://www.savingwildplaces.com/ (December 17, 2007), biography of George Schaller.

OTHER

Day to Day, March 27, 2006, Alex Chadwick, "Interviews: Saving the Marco Polo Sheep," transcript of National Public Radio (NPR) interview with George B. Schaller; February 21, 2007, Alex Chadwick, "A Resurgence of Wildlife in Northern Tibet."