In 1985, Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and naturalist Mark Carwardine departed on an epic journey to find some of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Now, more than three decades after the original expeditions, Carwardine and Stephen Fry set out on an adventure to find out how many of the initially observed animals still exist and check on other endangered species. We may have gotten smarter in the decades since the Adams/Carwardine expeditions, but have we gotten any wiser?

In 1985, Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and naturalist Mark Carwardine departed on an epic journey to find some of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Now, more than three decades after the original expeditions, Carwardine and Stephen Fry set out on an adventure to find out how many of the initially observed animals still exist and check on other endangered species. We may have gotten smarter in the decades since the Adams/Carwardine expeditions, but have we gotten any wiser?