THE CHIMPANZEE AND ME, BY BEN GARROD

Primatologists are sometimes asked by friends or family to recommend a book that will introduce them to nonhuman primates. As a primatologist who studies chimpanzees, I am often asked to suggest a book that teaches something about this particular species, usually starting from zero. It is easy to recommend a proven classic, such as de Waal’s Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes (1973) or Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man (1971), which were worldwide bestsellers, but these books are now decades old. So what should one recommend as an up-to-date, readable synthesis that especially emphasizes the perilous state of our endangered cousins? With the publication of Ben Garrod’s new book The Chimpanzee and Me this problem is now solved. Garrod, who is Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, is both a field and laboratory primatologist. His fieldwork includes the study of chimpanzees in Uganda, and laboratory work with green monkeys in Barbados. (The title of his PhD thesis was Primates of the Caribbean, reflecting a sense of humor that is not unlike that of Jack Sparrow.) Garrod also has a career as a presenter of BBC television documentaries on zoological topics, the latest of which, Baby Chimp Rescue, is tied to this book. This documentary is in three parts and shows the ups and downs of the committed work of Jimmy and Jenny Desmond, who run a sanctuary in Liberia for confiscated chimpanzees, mostly orphaned youngsters. The book spans the threats to wild chimpanzees that necessitate such a refuge, such as habitat destruction, the pet trade, hunting for bush meat, and disease. These are serious topics, and Garrod meets them head on, with his writing lightened by irony and occasional sarcasm, especially in the 146 clever, self-deprecating footnotes. (I cannot recall the last time I saw footnotes—an endangered species in themselves these days—used so skillfully for light relief.) The other engaging feature of the book is its 58 high-quality color photographs, mostly appealing portraits of named young chimpanzees that live in the Desmonds’ sanctuary. However, the book does have some drawbacks, at least for someone seeking to follow up its introduction to the species, as there are no citations, bibliography, index, or list of books for further reading, just three website links. Still, the book is good value for money, and the proceeds go to chimpanzee projects in Africa. The author’s opening chapter sets the scene with a case study, the life story of a young female chimpanzee, and Garrod’s first encounter with her at Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection. (He returns to this chimpanzee in the final chapter, by which time the reader can appreciate all that he and she have since experienced.) Crucially, the next chapter distills nicely, from ground zero, the answer to the basic question: what is a chimpanzee? It is clear and concise on everything from the scientific discovery of the chimpanzee to current knowledge of its taxonomy, morphology, diet, ecology, etc. This account of the chimpanzee is further fleshed out in a later chapter in a Q and A interview with Jane Goodall, which ranges over mostly behavioral topics. This latter chapter contains little information that is new to primatologists, but allows beginners to relate the species to its most famous proponent. [It mentions an important point that is sometimes forgotten today about Goodall’s scientific work: she was the first scientist to publish comparative data on cultural differences between chimpanzees (Goodall 1973), way back in the early 1970s.] Another chapter describes the hands-on rehabilitation of the orphans at the sanctuary via human-to-ape “schooling,” as although they were wild born, most of the orphans were taken into captivity long before they had acquired even basic survival skills from their mothers. The lessons include orchestrated positive experiences, such as learning to crack nuts with stones or to fish out food from an artificial termite mound, and negative ones, such as learning to fear (model) snakes. This pedagogy replicates methods used by Stella * William C. McGrew [email protected]