A few years before his death, Douglas Adams traveled the world with photographer Mark Cawardine, photographing and filming many of the world’s endangered species, including the komodo dragon, Rwandan mountain gorilla, kakapo, and the baiji dolphin, while trying to raise awareness by doing things like climbing Kilimanjaro dressed in a rhino costume. He wrote about his adventures and the challenges faced in an extremely hilarious and well-written book called “Last Chance to See“. Its not many people that can write about the extinction of hundreds of species of animals while being this entertaining. The book is highly recommended.

The title of the book is morbidly appropriate for this talk as well. The month he died, Douglas Adams gave a very funny and edifying talk at the University of California - Santa Barbara, where he tells some of the stories from his travels.