REASON FOR HOPE: THE QUEST FOR COEXSISTENCE AMONG AFRICAN HOMINOIDS

抄録

IPS23’s host country, Japan, is in a unique position among “first-world” nations: it has its own indigenous species of primate, Macaca fuscata, the Japanese snow monkey. The late Kinji Imanishi and his colleagues began fieldwork in Kohshima in 1948, with the aim of elucidating the evolutionary origins of human society. After accumulating knowledge on Japanese macaques, they travelled to Africa to study gorillas - and later chimpanzees - in the wild. At almost the same time, Western scholars were also embarking on long-term field observation projects in Africa. The Gombe chimpanzee project, led by Jane Goodall, is perhaps the best known such pioneering endeavor. Thanks to the continuing efforts of many dedicated fieldworkers, the past five decades have brought forth a wealth of information on the lives of chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, our evolutionary neighbors. However, coexistence among African hominoids is not without problems; humans in particular are often in conflict with the other Great Apes. The number of gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees is decreasing steadily, due to deforestation, poaching, bush-meat trade, and contagious diseases. This symposium invites Jane Goodall as the principal speaker. She will provide a summary of her 50-year history in research and conservation, while the other participants will outline efforts at their respective research sites in Africa. This session, as a whole, aims to illuminate collective efforts among primatologists towards conservation and sustainable coexistence with nonhuman primates.