Published (textual, not graphic) novels about great apes, rather than short stories, poems, films, television series, or plays, were chosen for scrutiny.

How accurate is their use of primatological knowledge?Īccordingly, this preliminary analysis is aimed at primatologists, assuming their basic background of the discipline, as informed readers. To what aspects or topics in primatology do they refer? To what extent do authors make use of the findings of scientific primatology, in the broadest sense? The present, exploratory analysis aimed to answer the following questions: But how extensive and representative are these fictional portrayals of great apes? This is important, as many more lay readers will gain their knowledge or impressions of apes from novels than from journal articles or academic tomes. Thus, authors of fiction have more and more accumulated knowledge to choose from in crafting their works. Captive great apes are studied in laboratories, zoological gardens, retirement refuges, and rescue sanctuaries. For example, study sites of habituated wild chimpanzees continue to increase, and technical advances such as camera-trapping and drones provide more data.

Recent fictional interest in great apes has much information to choose from, as primatologists publish more and more about them, in nature or in captivity. Hence, comparison between them and us seems to be irresistible, especially as differences more and more seem to be a matter of degree instead of kind. The explanation seems simple: Homo sapiens is also a great ape, and the other living genera, Gorilla, Pan, and Pongo, are our nearest extant cousins. Amongst nonhuman animals, the Order Primates seems to be favored by authors of fiction amongst primates, the great apes (Hominidae) are similarly more favored (Copeland 2015).

Oakland zoo jimmy smoking chimpanzee