The orangutan is a reclusive breed that lives only in parts of Indonesia. Its propensity for roaming high in treetops and for favoring areas inhospitable to people makes the species difficult to study. Van Schaik and his team were fortunate, then, to have stumbled upon Suaq Balimbing--a swamp in the forests of Aceh, Sumatra's northernmost province...He shares his discoveries of the orangutans of Suaq Balimbing and shows how these findings shed light on the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture.
Summary
The local people know him as the �Man of the Forest,� who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world�s leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates.In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. The Great Ape Paradox
2. Planet of the Apes
3. Homo sylvestris
4. Orangutan Heaven
5. Arbo-Reality
6. Party On (and Off)
7. Life in Slow Motion
8. The Dawn of Technology
9. The Culture Club
10. Triangulating Human Nature Epilogue: Living on Borrowed Time
Notes
References
Index
