Almost Human: A Journey Into the World of Baboons

This is an engaging, honest and intriguing story documenting a scientist doing fieldwork/research on a baboon troop. Although vastly informative and fact-filled, it is written for a general reader and refreshingly free of jargon. Ms. Strum also allows feelings - her own and the baboons' - to enter into the picture, as George Schaller did in "Year of the Gorilla," although Ms. Strum writes with much more humor than Dr. Schaller. Her observations and theories about baboon behavior - especially the male/female relationships - are extraordinary and compelling. I've re-read this book twice, just for the pleasure it gives me, and I highly recommend it to anyone who finds this type of research fascinating. And a terrific companion piece is "A Primate's Memoir," by Robert Sapolsky, also a researcher among the baboons...

This book could not have come into my life at a more opportune time. As a Volunteer Wildlife Police Officer I am involved inter alia in investigation of illegal possession of all wild species. However I had developed a particular interest in and love for primates - notably here vervet monkeys and baboons which are the most commonly "kept" here. I had made it my goal to remove as many of these from private possession as humanly possible. In all cases we find these intensely sociable animals being kept on their own, and with their movements restricted to no more than a few feet. After confiscation I start the rehabilitation process myself and then pass them on to a large sanctuary in Lusaka where they are integrated into troops and start their new lives. However my ultimate goal was to return them to a totally free life in the wild. Shirley Strum's seminal and successful translocation of the "Pumphouse Gang" in Kenya therefore convinced me that we had a chance of doing the same with our individuals/troops. The difference being that the "Pumphouse Gang" had always lived free and ours not. Shirley Strum's greatest accolade should be that she went beyond being the objective observer to caring participant. If Strum had only been involved with the baboons as subjects of an intellectual exercise, she would have been no different to many other scientists many of whom are responsible for hideous acts of cruelty to our non-human relatives. Thankfully, when the "Pumphouse Gang" was at risk of destruction, she allowed her humanity to guide her and so committed herself to finding a solution to their plight which was successful. I must admit that as a layman, some of the anthropological observations went over my head! I do feel that this is an extremely important study for anyone involved with primates, and those involved in the anti-vivesection movement (certainly in Africa where baboons are used as laboratory animals) since as the title states - they are "almost human".

Strum's account of her fieldwork is intensely interesting, as she looked past the "received wisdom" about baboon hierarchies and saw what was really going on. Of course baboons are not identical to humans - but the fundamental impulses of baboon behavior and their strategies for dealing with the their society and the world around them are similar to many things humans do; Strum claims no more than that.Just as fascinating as her discoveries about baboons, however, is her account of the effort to get her field results heard within the closed shop of baboon studies. She ran into a problem that damages almost all the sciences: The experts who get to decide whether the results of your research get published in scientific journals are usually the very same people whose triumphant discoveries of twenty years ago your research is about to supercede or even contradict. Naturally they think your work is nonsense and do all they can to keep it from getting published - because if you are right, and prevail, then their great work is erased. This struggle has been faced by so many scientists that it's a wonder we ever advance human learning at all. The only things that get published quickly and easily are the results that confirm our preexisting views. Indeed, one sees quite a bit of baboon behavior among scientists - as among all other humans....This was an important book for me, with insights that I have used in my own writing for years. I'm glad it's coming back into print in a new paperback edition. It's about time!

This was a fascinating look at baboons society. It was also extraordinarily personal in perspective. The book was absorbing and easy to read science written in a very subjective voice. The author gets very emotionally involved in her subjects and lets that come through clearly. She presents a somewhat controversial approach to field work.

As someone who has studied primates in the field, I greatly related to this book. Studying primates is so rewarding and I enjoyed sharing her discoveries and her journey. It is an easy read, and you will not want to put it down. Kudos to Dr. Strum