Synopses & Reviews
Foreword by Jane GoodallA former student and colleague of Jane Goodall shares stories of chimps and their heroes, and takes readers on a journey to save man’s closest relative.
Unbeknownst to much of the public, chimps are in trouble: censuses show them to be extinct in four African countries and nearly so in ten others. A large percentage of the remaining populations live in unprotected, increasingly fragmented forests.
When Nancy Merrick learned these startling facts in 2009, she decided it was past time to discover the extent to which chimpanzees are at risk across Africa and what can be done. Merrick had begun working with primates in 1972 as a young field assistant in Jane Goodall’s famous Gombe camp. Like the rest of the world at the time, she was swept up in the excitement of discovering the remarkable world of chimpanzees—their ability to fashion tools, their dazzling intelligence, and their complex relationships and societies. From that moment on, her human-centered worldview shifted, and she became a devoted advocate for our closest genetic relatives.
When Merrick returns to Africa decades later, she’s alarmed by how much has changed. Human activity, such as agriculture and logging, has encroached on natural habitats throughout equatorial Africa, endangering chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. In an effort to understand what we can do to save great apes, Merrick connects with primatologists and conservationists who are trying to protect the last great forests. Visits to some of Africa’s parks, sanctuaries, and expanding agricultural areas reveal the urgency of the problems and the inspiration of the people leading the search for solutions. Along the way, Merrick demonstrates that the best hope for chimps and other great apes lies in connecting conservation to humanitarian efforts, ensuring a healthy future for animals and humans alike.
Among Chimpanzees is at once an inspiring chronicle of Merrick’s personal search to learn how chimps are faring across Africa and in captivity, a crucial eyewitness account of a very critical period in their existence, and a rousing call for us to join the efforts to be a voice for the chimpanzees, before it’s too late.
Synopsis
Gombe, 1972
Juma and Peter were keeping up fairly well with the chimps, losing sight of them only occasionally. They were wearing khaki shorts and Tanzanian plastic sandals, and their legs were scratched repeatedly by bushes along the side of the path. I, on the other hand, quickly fell so far behind that I could no longer see chimps or observers.
“Now what do I do?” I muttered out loud to myself, checking out one particularly large scratch across my knee. Just then, Juma sounded his distinctive call, something like the sound children make when playing Indians, to let me know they were nearby and in which direction. Feeling relieved that I wasn’t entirely lost, I clambered up the mountainside as rapidly as I could. The path was steep, and by the time I arrived, I was breathless and worn out—and very happy to see Peter and chimps seated on the ground, paused for at least a few moments.
I bent over in exhaustion and put my hand up on a tree branch to steady myself, only to realize that I had placed my hand on top of someone else’s. I looked up to apologize to Juma, assuming it was his but instead found myself face-to-face with a young chimp named Pom, who was sitting in a low-lying tree. She gave me a curious look, implying “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to touch us?” I removed my hand as quietly and respectfully as possible and backed away.
About the Author
A former student and colleague of Jane Goodall shares stories of chimps and their heroes, and takes readers on a journey to save man’s closest relative.
Unbeknownst to much of the public, there is a looming crisis for Great Apes: chimps are extinct in four African countries and nearly so in twelve others. A large percentage of the remaining populations live in unprotected, increasingly fragmented African forests that are under siege. Veteran chimp researcher Nancy Merrick takes us from the early days of primate research, when wild chimpanzees were abundant and the world was spellbound by emerging details of their behavior, to today’s critical conservation efforts. Along the way, Merrick demonstrates that the best hope for chimps and other Great Apes lies in connecting conservation to humanitarian efforts, ensuring a healthy future for animals and humans alike. Featuring fresh stories of the remarkable chimps and the inspirational work of today’s leading conservationists, Among Chimpanzees will stir readers to care about the fate of our chimps—and to get involved in chimp conservation.