(E.B.W.) Critter Corner

Feature:

Mirroring Our Animal Instincts

“In early 2012, Deni Bechard was deep in a Congolese rainforest when he found himself up close with a group of bonobos, endangered great apes who, along with chimpanzees, share 98.7% of their DNA with humans. Talking to the B.C.-born writer about it now, you can see that it’s an experience he’s not likely to forget.

‘When you see their eyes, when they’re looking at you, you get a real sense of a conscious creature that’s making a decision about you,’ said Bechard, 39.

…the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Bechard was inspired to spend time in the field with the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI)…

…Empty Hands, Open Arms, a book that not only provides a rare ray of positivity in an often gloomy field but helps outsiders make sense of the Congo… but it’s the creatures whose rescue & protection drive the BCI who form the book’s heart.

‘Bonobos are the only great ape that doesn’t kill,’ Bechard said. “Chimpanzees wage organized war, all males dominate all females. With bonobos, the females dominate, & they protect each other against aggressive males…They share resources. They’re the most peaceful of all the great apes- more peaceful than gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, & humans, & therefore a fascinating creature to study’…

…Bechard has no doubt that his experience with bonobos has left him with a fundamentally altered perspective.

‘It has absolutely changed the way I view humans,’ he said. ‘After studying the (non-human) great apes, I see humans more as great apes. It’s easier to be forgiving of our behavior because you kind of understand, ‘This is what we’re programmed to do, these are our reactions, & actions, what we do in certain circumstances’…

‘There are many humans who behave like bonobos, who are relatively peaceful in their societies,’ Berchard said. ‘We can travel around the planet, we can enter other cultures & be accepted, we can trade…These are not chimpanzee qualities. But we can go one way or another, & what I think is so fascinating about studying the great apes is it’s a reminder of how rapidly that change can become bonobo-like or chimpanzee-like depending on circumstances. Creating the right circumstances is all the more important for creating the kind of human we want to be’.”

Ian McGillis

The Montreal Gazette

Dec. 2/2013