When a baby gorilla is stolen from an orphanage in Rwanda, Teddy, his parents, and an old family friend find themselves piecing together clues in a race against the clock to save it.
At the same time, Teddy is long-distance consulting with his girlfriend, Summer, and best friend, Xavier, to help solve another mystery, this one involving vanishing ducklings back at FunJungle.
Between facing down lions on the Serengeti and chasing poachers through the bazaars of Zanzibar, will Teddy be able to rescue the baby gorilla and figure out where the ducklings are going before it’s too late?
At long last! A FunJungle story that takes place outside of the United States. I loved the African setting. The search for the missing gorilla takes Teddy to several regions/countries across Africa, including the Serengeti, Tanzania, and Zanzibar.
While the stolen baby gorilla was the main mystery, I found myself more invested in the missing ducklings mystery. It was confusing having Teddy consult with Summer and Xavier about the ducklings while racing around Africa. And the way Stuart Gibbs writes didn’t help. One moment, he would have Teddy talking on the phone with Summer; the next, he would be describing a strange occurrence around Teddy.
My favorite part was learning about gorilla farts. Stuart Gibbs never disappoints when it comes to animal fart and poop facts.
Even though this whole book is about poaching, I still can’t grasp why anyone would do something as immoral as take a wild animal from their home, lock them in a small cage, ship them across the world, and sell them to morons who think it’s a good idea to keep an exotic animal as a pet. While the story acknowledges poverty in Africa and the limited opportunities people have to earn money, I’ll never understand being desperate enough to break the law and hunt innocent animals. I think it’s a good thing that I don’t understand it.
Bit of a spoiler, but there is one aspect of the FunJungle series I’d like to address. If you’ve read the first book, Belly Up, you’ll remember that a python was let loose. Even though I’ve read all the books, I could not, for the life of me, remember whether the python had been found yet. Turns out, it hasn’t. I don’t know what Stuart Gibbs has planned for that snake. If the snake is found, it’s going to be in the most ridiculous place possible. After a year and a half, it’s probably not even in FunJungle anymore. It could be halfway across Texas for all we know.