Paul Appleby of OxVeg, Oxfordshire Vegetarians & Vegans (UK) - www.oxveg.co.uk – kindly provided the following book review.
Ape by John Sorenson, Reaktion Books, 224pp, pbk, 100 illustrations, 48 in colour; ISBN 978 1 86189 422 9, £9-99
With more than 25 titles already published in Reaktion Books' Animal series it is surprising that we have had to wait until now for a book about our closest animal relations. Although each species of non-human ape (bonobos, chimpanzees, gibbons, gorillas and orang-utans) could have merited a book of their own, the author chooses to regard apes as a whole, reflecting their similarities and close kinship with humans (to whom chimpanzees are 99.4% identical in functionally important DNA).
Close though their genetic relationship may be, humans have had at best an ambivalent attitude to apes, often regarding them as objects of derision or ferocious monsters to be hunted and killed. Only in the past 50 years have apes become the subject of serious scientific study with primatologists such as Jane Goodall and the late Dian Fossey helping to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of these remarkable creatures. Although more enlightened attitudes have led to the founding of campaign groups such as the International Primate Protection League and the Great Ape Project (which seeks to extend basic 'human' rights to apes), and the creation of sanctuaries such as Monkey World in Dorset, apes are still experimented on, exhibited in zoos, safari parks, circuses and tourist hotels, trafficked for the illegal pet trade, hunted for bush-meat in Africa, and suffer loss of habitat through logging and palm oil production. All of this is chronicled in Ape, making the book informative but depressing reading.
John Sorenson is a Professor of Sociology at Brock University in Canada where he teaches Critical Animal Studies. In Ape it is clear where his sympathies lie, pointing out that "all non-human apes are under threat, some critically endangered, and it is an open question as to whether they will avoid extinction caused by the most violent apes of all, humans". We must hope that the book's concluding chapter, entitled Extinction, is not prophetic. Other chapters describe the natural history of apes and our attitudes towards them, and apes in captivity, in art and film, and as models for human behaviour. Despite a tendency to blur the distinction between apes and monkeys (a separate primate family), John Sorenson has written a compelling book with a clear message. If apes are to survive in the wild we are going to have to put self-interest aside and treat them with the same care and respect as we show towards our human relatives. Their future is in our hands.
Some relevant internet links:
Reaktion Books (www.reaktionbooks.co.uk)
Great Ape Project (www.greatapeproject.org) International Primate Protection League (www.ippl-uk.org)
The Ape Alliance (an international coalition of ape conservation and welfare groups; www.4apes.com)
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