The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest: 40 Years of Research

The Ta Chimpanzee Project (Ta National Park, Cote D'Ivoire) has yielded unprecedented insights into the nature of cooperation, cognition, and culture in our closest living relatives. Founded in 1979 by Christophe and Hedwige Boesch, the project has entered its 40th year of continuous research. Alongside other famous long-term chimpanzee study sites at Gombe and Mahale in East Africa, the tireless work of the team at Ta has contributed to the fields of behavioural ecology and anthropology, as well as improving public awareness of the urgent need to protect this already endangered species. Encompassing important research topics including chimpanzee ecology, reproductive behaviour, tool use, culture, communication, cognition and conservation, this book provides an engaging account of how Ta chimpanzees are adapted to African jungle life and how they have developed unique forms of cooperation with less violence, regular adoptions and complex cultural differences between groups.

Author: Christophe Boesch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 11/28/2019
Pages: 516
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.60lbs
Size: 9.80h x 7.50w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781108481557

About the Author
Boesch, Christophe: - Christophe Boesch is Director of the Department of Primatology at the Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany and Professor of Zoology at the Universität Leipzig, Germany. He co-founded the Taï Chimpanzee Project in Côte d'Ivoire, Africa with his wife Hedwige in 1979 and was its Director for thirty-five years. He is also the founder and President of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation. His research concentrates on the evolution of cooperation, tool use and culture in wild chimpanzees and its implication for our understanding of human evolution.Wittig, Roman: - Roman Wittig is Group Leader at the Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany, and has been Director of the Taï Chimpanzee Project since 2012. His research focusses on the costs and benefits of group living, social bonds and social cognition in wild chimpanzees and other non-human primates, in particular Bonobos, Chacma baboons and Sooty mangabeys.