Early Book Review: Chimpanzee Memoirs: Stories of Studying and Saving Our Closest Living Relatives by Edited by Stephen Ross and Lydia Hopper

Chimpanzee Memoirs: Stories of Studying and Saving Our Closest Living Relatives was edited by Stephen Ross and Lydia Hopper. It is currently scheduled for release on May 10 2022. Chimpanzees fascinate people for many reasons. Our awareness of our closest living relatives testifies to the efforts of the remarkable people who study these creatures and work to protect them. What motivates someone to dedicate their lives to chimpanzees? How does that reflect on our own species? This book brings together a range of chimpanzee experts who tell powerful personal stories about their lives and careers. It features some of the world’s preeminent primatologists—including Jane Goodall and Frans de Waal—as well as representatives of a new generation from varied backgrounds. The book features anthropologists, biologists, psychologists, veterinarians, conservationists, and the director of a chimpanzee sanctuary. Some grew up in the English countryside, others in villages in Congo; some first encountered chimpanzees in a zoo, others in the forests surrounding their homes. All are united by a common purpose: to study and understand chimpanzees in order to protect them in the wild and care for them in zoos and sanctuaries. Contributors share what inspired them, what shaped their career choices, and what motivates them to strive for solutions to the many challenges that chimpanzees face today.

I thought that Chimpanzee Memoirs is a well organized collection of essays that are accessible and interesting to read. I liked that the experts were from a wide range of backgrounds, fields, and reasons being motivated to work with chimpanzees. The essays are each short, making this a quick read, but full of personal stories and tales of specific champs that stuck a chord with the experts. I liked that while some of the experts included are well known and fully expected to be included, readers also get to learn about people in the field that we most likely have never heard of.  I think this book is an engaging and encouraging read, that also covers the struggles of the researchers and the threats to chimpanzees (past and present), so does not sugar coat the subject matter. This would be a great book for school and public libraries to have in their collection. It could be great inspiration for readers that have interest in studying chimps, or other animals.