Bonobo Handshake By Vanessa Woods

Book Review by Cos Barnes

I always thought we as humans are more like chimpanzees than any other creatures. However, Author Vanessa Woods says we have another closer living relative – the bonobo who lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although they have black faces, pink lips and hair parted down the middle, they are a smaller, more peaceable species of primate than chimpanzees. And they are lesser known. Woods, an Australian journalist, who, along with her husband, Brian Hare, studied them at Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary located in the 75-acre forest of what was once the Congo’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko’s retreat. It was founded in 1994 and run by French activist Claudine Andre and served as an orphanage for baby bonobos left for dead after their parents had been hunted for bush meat.

It is a love story, it is a memoir. Woods follows a man she barely knows to do research in a country reeling from a decade-long war that has claimed the lives of millions. She is unprepared for her fascination with the bonobos, who are friendly, entertaining and have a high sex drive. Because of their joviality, they are often taken advantage of. They are aggressive, but they are gentle and accept strangers readily. As her love for her husband grows, so does her love for the animals, although she has to fight one off for her husband’s affection as the bonobo sees her as a rival and draws off her territory. Woods learns that these animals have the same problems as humans in the care of infants and the elderly and the handling of grief and disappointment.

Woods was in Southern Pines at the Country Book Shop some months ago. She speaks French fluently and told how she won the trust of the bonobos. Charmingly, she described how she won the animals over and learned to appreciate their intelligence and tolerance. All in all, it is a story of looking past the differences that separate us humans and animals, and recognizing their extraordinary will to survive.