Thursday, July 16, 2009

The planet of the Apes (chimps, bonobos, orangutans, etc.)

I apologize for not posting more, but I'm thrilled to read all of your posts.  Thank you and I really love our blog.  I will treasure it not only this month, but for many months to come.

On our trip to the zoo, I was struck most by the education about behavior in the families of apes, and how close we are related to them genetically.   We are 99 percent the exact same in DNA with the Bonobo.  The bonobo, however, never kills another bonobo.  They resolve their problems in other ways.  It seems we humans have a lot to learn from the bonobo.  

The Wuhan 6 witnessed this event while watching the gorillas.  It was really surprising, and I think the gorilla got sick of people tapping on the glass of the cage, and decided to show us who is boss.  I don't blame the animal at all for showing some aggression, and sometimes in the zoo I can't help but feel bad for the animal, even though I feel the Columbus Zoo does an outstanding job of making the animals feel at "home", or the best they can approximate.   I had a very great day and thanks, students, for all your insights and enthusiasm.  I really appreciated the time we all spent together that day and I felt like we all knew each other much better after this experience.  I'm thankful we had the chance to do it.

All best,

Mike


1 comment: