The Extinction Club
A Tale of Deer, Lost Books, and a Rather Fine Canary Yellow Sweater
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- ¥1,200
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- ¥1,200
発行者による作品情報
For one thousand years, the Milu -- an exotic species of deer with the neck of a camel, horns of a stag, feet of a cow, and tail of a donkey -- existed only in the Chinese emperor’s private park in Beijing. But in the nineteenth century, a Basque missionary risked his life to obtain a specimen, then embalmed it and sent it to Paris.
The preserved remains caused quite a stir, and soon every major nation in Europe possessed a Milu. But most died quickly, and due to war -- most notably the Boxer Rebellion -- they became extinct in their native habitat as well. Yet the eleventh duke of Bedford was devoted to preserving the Milu. Under his care at Woburn Abbey, a herd flourished, and nearly a century later, in 1986, part of the British herd was returned to China.
In his fascinating tale, Robert Twigger poignantly recounts the story of this strange and rare animal while providing a riveting meditation on evolution, truth-telling, extinction, myth-making, and survival.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Part intellectual travelogue, part historical study, part biological monograph, part writer's memoir, magazine writer Twigger's charmingly eccentric book about the rare Milu deer is difficult to classify. The Milu, which could have been designed by committee, has a camel's neck, a donkey's tail, cow-like hooves and stag's horns. For a millennium, this unusual species was the private stock of Chinese emperors. Then in the 19th century, a Basque missionary priest, P re David, became fascinated by the creature and spread word of it in Europe. Unfortunately, the Milu did not thrive in the game preserves of the European aristocrats who imported it and also went extinct in its native China during the chaos of the Boxer Rebellion. The one stroke of luck for the poor creature was the 11th Duke of Bedford, who carefully nurtured the deer in Bedfordshire, England. Nowadays, thanks to his conservation efforts, the deer is so abundant that well-heeled hunters can travel to wild game reserves, especially in Texas, and hunt the Milu for a fee. In the course of this story, Twigger takes the reader on a freewheeling journey through his own life and winningly reflects on marriage, Darwin, Egypt, mythopoetica, evolution and extinction. This is a lighthearted and truly unusual romp through natural history.
