Dr. Van Roosmalen: Dutch-born Brazilian Primatologist!!

"Justiça Federal manda soltar pesquisador holandês"

BIOPIRATARIA -- Amazonas em Tempo

"Depois de ter sido condenado a 14 anos de prisão e mais multa de 152 mil, TRF deu paracer favárovel à soltura do holandés, ontem à tarde"

Adapted from: "Trials of a Primatologist," Smithsonian, February 2008, by Joshua Hammer, with the aid and asistance of photographer Claudio Edinger.

"[In Brazil] van Roosmalen initially thrived.

"With his good looks, boundless energy, high ambition, prolific publishing output and talent for mounting flashy field trips funded by international donors, he stood out in an instutuion with its share of stodgy bureaucarts and underacievers."

Then after spending some time with van Roosmalen on the Rio Negro, the author observes:

"As van Roosmalen ranted on into the night, I had the feeling that I was sitting in some Brazilian version of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

"Isolated in the middle of the Amazon jungle and under continuous attack for years, it seemed to me quite possible that the scientist had ben infected by a touch of madness..."

Better well believe it, and moreover, this story is a great read!