by Brian Hare
First published 2017
Brian Hare takes readers into the dense forests south of the Congo River, where bonobos swing through canopies that have hidden their secrets for decades. Political turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo has kept scientists away from these remarkable apes, our closest living relatives alongside chimpanzees. While researchers have studied chimpanzees at dozens of sites for years, they have wrongly assumed both species behave the same way. Hare follows the new generation of scientists who are finally accessing bonobo populations as stability returns to the region. Working in both wild habitats and growing zoo populations worldwide, these researchers discover that bonobo brains and behaviors differ dramatically from their chimpanzee cousins. The story reveals how scientific assumptions crumble when researchers can finally observe their subjects directly, and why protecting the remaining wild bonobo populations matters urgently for understanding human evolution.
Genres: animals, anthropology, non-fiction, biology
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: scientific-discovery
Setting: Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo
300 pages · Hardcover · Oxford University Press