Wild Chimpanzees

Donated.

Where We Stand Field workers—scientists of animal (including human!) behavior in nature—have long been fascinated by wild chimpanzees. A person who once has studied wild chimpanzees will be eager to observe them again. A person who has studied them twice will make every effort to continue the study, unless prevented from doing so. In short, behavioral primatology is addictive! Many people, among them Jane Goodall, Richard Wrangham, and I, do not regret that they have dedicated their whole lives to the study of wild chimpanzees. This is because the apes’ behavior is always challenging: chimpanzees are cheerful, charming, playful, curious, beautiful, easygoing, generous, tolerant, and trustw- thy most of the time, but also are cautious, cunning, ugly, violent, ferocious, blo- thirsty, greedy, and disloyal at other times. We human beings share both the light and dark sides with our closest living relatives. For decades, we have documented huge across-population variation in behavior, as well as within-population variation. Cultural biology (now called cultural pri- tology), as proposed 60 years ago by Kinji Imanishi, recently has flourished.

Geza Teleki has spent two years observing wild chimpanzees at very close quarters in the Gombe National Park of Tanzania. He has compiled this report on predatory behavior, based in part upon a decade of observations by a research team living in the park, but primarily upon numerous episodes he observed since early 1968. Illustrated.

The chimpanzees are the closest living evolutionary relatives to our own species, Homo sapiens. As such, they have long exerted a fascination over those with an interest in human evolution, and what makes humans unique. Chrisophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Acherman undertook an incredible observational study of a group of wild chimpanzees of the Tai forest in Cote D'Ivoire, spending some fifteen years in the West African jungle with them. This fascinating book is the result of these years of painstaking research among the chimps. Chimpanzee behavior is documented here in all its impressive diversity and variety. Aggression, territoriality, social structure and relationships, reproductive strategies, hunting, tool use - each of these is given its own chapter, along with topics such as chimp intelligence, life histories, and demography. The authors take care to place their observations within the broader context of research in behavioral ecology, and to compare and contrast their findings with other important work on chimpanzee groups, such as that by Jane Goodall. The book concludes with a summary chapter relating the chimpanzee findings to our understanding of human evolution. Combining careful scientific observation with a store of entertaining anecdotes, this is a lively and readable book. It also succeeds in shedding light on some of the central questions around the evolutionary relationships between the primates, and in particular the affinity between chimpanzees and humans. 'This is a major contribution to the study of the great apes, and a significant addition to debates about human/ape evolution. It has all the makings of a classic monograph.

An introduction to chimpanzee behavior and conservation, synthesizing findings from long-term field studies in the African rainforest belt.

Jane Goodall's adventures with the chimpanzees and the important discoveries she has made about them have gained her worldwide recognition. Now she tells her exciting story in her own words! When Jane Goodall was twenty-six years old, she ventured into the forests of Africa to observe chimps in the wild. On her expeditions she braved the dangers of the jungle and survived encounters with leopards and lions in the African bush. And she got to know an amazing group of wild chimpanzees - intelligent animals whose lives, in work and play and family relationships, bear a surprising resemblance to our own. Jane Goodall has also written the bestseller In the Shadow of Man and The Chimpanzee Family Book. In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation to promote animal research throughout the world. SUMMARY: A DREAM COME TRUE From the time she was a girl, Jane Goodall dreamed of a life spent working with animals. Finally she had her wish. When she was twenty-six years old, she ventured into the forests of Africa to observe chimpanzees in the wild. On her expeditions she braved the dangers of the jungle and survived encounters with leopards and lions in the African bush. And she got to know an amazing group of wild chimpanzees — intelligent animals whose lives, in work and play and family relationships, bear a surprising resemblance to our own. Jane Goodall's adventures with the chimps and the important discoveries she has made about them have gained her worldwide recognition. Now she tells her exciting story in her own words.

Arguably the most intelligent of nonhuman animals, chimpanzees are endlessly fascinating. Sadly, their population has been drastically reduced over the past 50 years. This book explains what makes these animals so interesting, the dangers they grapple with, and a number of conservationist efforts.

An engaging account of the research and key findings on Taï chimpanzees to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this project.