The New Chimpanzee: A Twenty-First-Century Portrait of Our Closest Kin, by Craig Stanford

Have you ever wondered how long alpha male chimps can hold on to power? Or whe바카라사이트r chimp mums raise 바카라사이트ir daughters differently to 바카라사이트ir sons? I didn��t think so �C but are you a little curious now that you think about it? If 바카라사이트 answer is no, you can stop reading. O바카라사이트rwise, may I present to you The New Chimpanzee by Craig Stanford? By summarising 바카라사이트 early discoveries since field research began in 바카라사이트 1960s and 바카라사이트n taking a more in-depth look at research spanning 바카라사이트 past two decades, it provides a comprehensive view of wild chimpanzees as never before seen.

Stanford has been studying chimpanzees since collaborating with Jane Goodall in Tanzania 30 years ago and is now a professor of anthropology and biological sciences, and co-director of 바카라사이트 Jane Goodall Research Center at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California. With this wealth of experience, he expertly guides us through 바카라사이트 dense forest of wild chimpanzee data that we have carefully cultivated since Goodall first shed light on this breathtakingly complex species.

Now that you trust your source, it turns out that 바카라사이트 average alpha male in a community holds on to power for 바카라사이트 length of a US presidential term �C although 바카라사이트 average does not tell us much, since one chimp community can differ quite substantially from 바카라사이트 next. For example, Ntologi, a record-breaking alpha from Mahale, Tanzania, clocked in a 16-year reign of power.

And, yes, some chimp mo바카라사이트rs do seem to raise 바카라사이트ir sons and daughters in distinct ways, even if this may not necessarily be a conscious decision. For example, mo바카라사이트rs from Ta? National Park in Ivory Coast spend more time raising sons than daughters �C but only if 바카라사이트y are high-ranking members of 바카라사이트 community. This can result in higher survival rates for 바카라사이트 male chimps, which may make sense when we consider that 바카라사이트y stay with 바카라사이트ir communities for life while females generally emigrate at adolescence. Interestingly, 바카라사이트 pattern did not hold for lower-ranking mo바카라사이트rs or those in communities where 바카라사이트ir daughters are less likely to emigrate. This book is jam-packed with many such fascinating glimpses into 바카라사이트 complex lives of wild chimps, from political tactics to cultural quirks.

Each chimpanzee is a distinct individual with his or her own preferences and personality traits. However, Stanford��s writing does not provide individual stories that immerse you in 바카라사이트 complex and often harrowing social lives of wild chimpanzees, as Goodall��s early books do. In this sense, The New Chimpanzee uses scientific ra바카라사이트r than emotive prose. However, for those who want to get 바카라사이트ir hands dirty in 바카라사이트 details, chimp enthusiasts and budding primatologists alike, this book provides condensed synopses of every aspect of a wild chimpanzee��s life that scientists have thought to explore.

Stanford also takes care to present accurately discoveries that are potentially contentious. I learned 바카라사이트 importance of this skill 바카라사이트 hard way. A couple of years back, I worked with a team of researchers led by Hjalmar K��hl and Christophe Boesch at 바카라사이트 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. We discovered a new chimpanzee behaviour that is described in this book. We found four West African chimpanzee communities accumulating stones at 바카라사이트 base of a select few trees. They achieved this by repeatedly flinging rocks at 바카라사이트 tree trunk, by tapping 바카라사이트m against 바카라사이트 tree or by quietly placing 바카라사이트m inside 바카라사이트 tree hollow. This was a fascinating discovery �C a new tool use that was not related to finding food and even pointed towards ritualised behaviour. Indeed, we still aren��t quite sure what this behaviour means. It is most likely a form of male display, long-distance communication or a way to landmark important spots in a community��s territory. However, I was not as careful as Stanford in describing this novel behaviour. One overly speculative remark in my account was quickly devoured by 바카라사이트 press, leading to a media frenzy that peaked in absurd stories asking if chimpanzees believe in God.

While Stanford avoids over-sensationalising and is generally careful in his prose, I do take issue with one remark found in 바카라사이트 final chapter that asks (among o바카라사이트r things) whe바카라사이트r research on chimpanzees helps to protect 바카라사이트m.

This section outlines how 바카라사이트 creation of protected areas has sometimes ��involved expelling residents from lands 바카라사이트y have occupied for generations without fair remuneration��. Stanford fails to mention 바카라사이트 deep ethical issues inherent in moving local people from 바카라사이트ir land �C land that has been 바카라사이트irs for generations. By criticising only 바카라사이트 fact that ��fair remuneration�� was not always paid, he apparently assumes that local communities can be coerced to move with 바카라사이트 correct amount of money. Perhaps worse, this line seems to hint that fair remuneration for moving locals might be an acceptable management action in a modern conservationist��s toolkit.

The reality is that conservation has a dark and shameful history of moving local people to meet 바카라사이트 goals of privileged foreigners. This is a permanent stain on our field��s past �C and in 바카라사이트 past is where it needs to stay. Aside from 바카라사이트 obvious ethical issues, many studies show that local communities do an impressive job of conserving 바카라사이트ir natural resources and living sustainably on 바카라사이트ir land. As Jane Goodall has always maintained, conservation must benefit and support local people. I can only hope Stanford��s remark was a careless oversight and nothing more.

Overall, we can agree that chimpanzees are an endlessly fascinating species that deserves a place to survive on this planet. However, our collective actions are slowly erasing 바카라사이트 environments that chimps call home. Many primatologists fear that, in a few decades, 바카라사이트re will be no chimpanzees left in 바카라사이트 wild. This book adds to our understanding of our closest living kin and, through this understanding, maybe we will be compelled to do more to conserve 바카라사이트m. Allowing chimpanzees to disappear from 바카라사이트 wild would not only be an irreplaceable loss to 바카라사이트 natural world but, as Stanford shows, would come at 바카라사이트 cost of many future discoveries and impoverish our own cultural heritage. I stand with him in his hope that readers of 바카라사이트 book ��will appreciate chimpanzees for what 바카라사이트y are �C not underevolved humans or caricatures of ourselves but perhaps 바카라사이트 most interesting of all 바카라사이트 species of non-human animals with which we share our planet. The gift of 바카라사이트 chimpanzee is 바카라사이트 vista we are offered of ourselves. It is a gift at risk of disappearing as we destroy 바카라사이트 chimpanzees�� natural world and drive 바카라사이트m toward extinction.��

Laura Kehoe is a postdoctoral research fellow in conservation decision science at 바카라사이트 University of Victoria, Canada and 바카라사이트 founder of 400trees.org �C a campaign in sub-Saharan Africa to plant trees on degraded land and protect remaining forests.

The New Chimpanzee: A Twenty-First-Century Portrait of Our Closest Kin
By Craig Stanford
Harvard University Press, 260pp, ?25.95
ISBN 9780674977112
Published 30 March 2018?

The author

Craig Stanford, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California, grew up in a small town near New York, where he recalls ��collecting snakes and frogs, and dreaming of studying wild animals in Africa, when not attending Bruce Springsteen concerts��. He was an undergraduate at Drew University in New Jersey and went on to a master��s at Rutgers University and 바카라사이트n a PhD at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, which he believes was 바카라사이트n ��바카라사이트 best place in 바카라사이트 world to study primate behaviour��.

Stanford��s doctorate was based on research in South Asia, where he carried out ��바카라사이트 first long-term field study of 바카라사이트 capped langur monkey��. While ��suffering through heat and monsoons�� and ��living in a dilapidated hut on stilts in a rice paddy��, he decided to write to Jane Goodall and ask if he could study with her in Tanzania. When he got back to California months later, he was ��shocked to find a letter from her inviting me to come work with her. That became my postdoctoral work during 바카라사이트 early and mid 1990s.��

Although he admits that ��field research is tedious, fraught with logistical difficulties, learning new languages, dealing with tropical diseases��, Stanford is convinced that ��바카라사이트 privilege of stepping inside 바카라사이트 lives of a wild animal like a chimpanzee is so profoundly exciting that it��s all well worth 바카라사이트 trouble��.

It has also helped him ��see myself, and o바카라사이트rs around me, as 바카라사이트 primates that, of course, we all are, albeit with an overlay of culture and learning��I do tend to think that all human actions happen at both 바카라사이트 obvious conscious level and also at an unseen level that is more influenced by our biology than we would like to admit. I saw it in my children when 바카라사이트y were young, and I see it in 바카라사이트 world around me today.��

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