Apes of the Impenetrable Forest (The Behavioral Ecology of Sympatiric Chimpanzees and Gorillas) offers students a scholary and relevant study. This is an account of a nine year project on the behaviour and ecology of chimpanzees and mountain gorillas living in the same African forest. Students are able to see the way in which a project is planned and put into action as well as the results.

These compelling stories and photographs take us to places like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, Ivindo National Park in Gabon, and the Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire for an intimate and revealing look at the lives of African wild apes—and at the lives of the humans who study them. In tales of adventure, research, and conservation, veteran field researchers and conservationists describe exciting discoveries made over the past few decades about chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. The book features vivid descriptions of interactions among these highly intelligent creatures as they hunt, socialize, and play. More difficult themes emerge as well, including the threats apes face from poaching, disease, and deforestation. In stories that are often moving and highly personal, this book takes measure of how special the great apes are and discusses positive conservation efforts, including ecotourism, that can help bring these magnificent animals back from the brink of extinction.

Planet Without Apes demands that we consider whether we can live with the consequences of wiping our closest relatives off the face of the Earth. Leading primatologist Craig Stanford warns that extinction of the great apes—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans—threatens to become a reality within just a few human generations. We are on the verge of losing the last links to our evolutionary past, and to all the biological knowledge about ourselves that would die along with them. The crisis we face is tantamount to standing aside while our last extended family members vanish from the planet. Stanford sees great apes as not only intelligent but also possessed of a culture: both toolmakers and social beings capable of passing cultural knowledge down through generations. Compelled by his field research to take up the cause of conservation, he is unequivocal about where responsibility for extinction of these species lies. Our extermination campaign against the great apes has been as brutal as the genocide we have long practiced on one another. Stanford shows how complicity is shared by people far removed from apes’ shrinking habitats. We learn about extinction’s complex links with cell phones, European meat eaters, and ecotourism, along with the effects of Ebola virus, poverty, and political instability. Even the most environmentally concerned observers are unaware of many specific threats faced by great apes. Stanford fills us in, and then tells us how we can redirect the course of an otherwise bleak future.

Lying in the remote hills of southwest Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest harbors elephants, chimpanzees, monkeys, and half the world's population of endangered mountain gorillas. For two years, Thor Hanson called that forest home, working with local guides and trackers to develop an ecotourism program for the newly-formed Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Thoroughly researched and beautifully told, Hanson's story blends natural history with cultural insight to place the forest and the gorillas in the context of modern Africa. The Impenetrable Forest offers a rare glimpse into the world of mountain gorillas, and the human cultures that surround them. A must-read for anyone interested in gorilla tracking, endangered species, or travel to Uganda.

The author of The Frog Scientist showcases the work of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in “an outstanding science nature title” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) Mountain gorillas are playful, curious, and protective of their families. They are also one of the most endangered species in the world. For years, mountain gorillas have faced the threat of death by poachers. Funds raised by “gorilla tourism”—bringing people into the forest to see gorillas—have helped protect them. This tourism is vital but contact between gorillas and people brought a new threat to the gorillas: human disease. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project is a group of scientists working to save the mountain gorilla population in Rwanda and Uganda. The gorilla doctors study the effects of human exposure, provide emergency care, and act as foster parents to an orphaned gorilla. “Excellent photographs prominently feature the scientists at work (predominantly women and people of color in scientific roles) as well as the photogenic gorillas.”—Horn Book, starred review “The author, who has a degree in public health, is especially successful in explaining how improving community public health benefits both gorillas and humans. Spectacular and appealing photos of gorillas, scientists and the Rwanda Preserve add even more appeal.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “The readable text records their efforts to treat the great apes in the field as they encounter poachers, meet with loss of habitat, and face their newest threat: human diseases that can cross species lines . . . The whole is accompanied by striking, full-color photographs and includes a list of other resources, a postscript, and an index.”—School Library Journal

The beautiful photographs in the exhibition, “Their Fate is Ours: The Humanity of Great Apes”, are more than pretty pictures. They tell a story of the long and often difficult relationship between humans and great apes in Africa and Asia, and offer a glimpse of a world that hangs very much in the balance. Can anyone look at a photo of a mother gorilla cuddling her infant and not imagine their own child? Doesn’t a chimpanzee’s foot look like your own? Isn’t the mischief in an orangutan’s eyes clear to all? Biologist and photographer Johannes Refisch has captured fantastic images that highlight the similarities between humans and great apes. Despite these similarities, we insist upon clearing great ape habitat to make way for human development, destroying the rainforest homes, savanna fields, and mountaintop retreats in the process.

This comprehensive introduction demonstrates the theoretical perspectives and concepts that are applied to primate behavior, and explores the relevance of non-human primates to understanding human behavior. Using a streamlined and student-friendly taxonomic framework, King provides a thorough overview of the primate order. The chapters cover common features and diversity, and touch on ecology, sociality, life history, and cognition. Text boxes are included throughout the discussion featuring additional topics and more sophisticated taxonomy. The book contains a wealth of illustrations, and further resources to support teaching and learning are available via a companion website. Written in an engaging and approachable style, this is an invaluable resource for students of primate behavior as well as human evolution.