Duikers of Africa - Masters of the African Forest Floor: A Study of Duikers - People - Hunting and Bushmeat, Vivian J. Wilson, 2005 Not a new book, but the "Last of their kind in a zoo" discussion made me feel that it deserves honorable mention here in ZooChat. This book is monumental in every sense of the word. This is one of the most comprehensive studies of any Bovid groups, and without a doubt the Duiker’s Magnum Opus. The volume is massive, printed on a glossy 170g art paper ( Illustrated checklist of the mammals of the world 115g) and with its 800 pages weighs around 6 kg. There are of course accounts, photographs, beautiful pictures (by the author's wife Pamela Wilson) , actual size skull drawings and country by country distribution for all 16 species, while only the Common Duiker’s account with it’s 150 pages is a serious scientific achievement and a book in the book itself. To write this book, the author late Vivian Wilson, who was captivated by Duikers for more than 40 years, spent at least 12 of them traveling to 20 African countries and studying these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat. The list with the authors who contributed for this achievement is very respectful and includes names, like Rod East, Peer Grubb, Colin Groves and Thomas Butynski. With it’s more than 1000 references, Duikers of Africa - Masters of the African Forest Floor has been itself the main reference to all the following Duiker's publications, including Brent Huffman’s accounts in Handbook of the Mammals of the World, vol 2. Hoofed Mammals.
Everything you always wanted to know about duikers, but were afraid to ask.... I have that book, so from my point of view, it could be a little bit thicker....
Not as extensive as of some of the more popular species accounts, given how secretive Jentink's duikers are. Next to the taxonomy, descriptive features, distribution, behavior, food, reproduction and status the author is trying to summarise the most of the sightings in the past two decades prior the publication. The species is covered in some other chapters, like the one for the Duikers in Captivity and the part of the book dedicated to the Bushmeat trade. Acknowledging how important the Duikers harvesting is for the West Africa, Wilson speaks for ban of the hunting for some of the Endengered species like the Jentink's .
