WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE CHIMPANZEE CHRONICLES

Debra Rosenman has gathered up real life stories that will, collectively, sadden, anger, and inspire all who read them.…Thank goodness for the dedicated, passionate, and often very courageous people whose work is recognized in this important book, one that will, I am sure, inspire all who read it to do their bit to improve the lives of the animals with whom we share, or should share, our planet. On behalf of the chimpanzees whose lives they changed, I thank and honor them.

Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace

The stories assembled by Debra Rosenman, each an emotionally penetrating thread of insight and compassion, invite us to reflect on our relationship with these intelligent and sensitive beings.…The narratives, from around the world, are eye-opening in their honesty, inspiring rage, deep compassion, and ultimately hope. Reading them makes it impossible to reject the book’s foundational message that chimpanzees care about what happens to them, their families, and their friends—that they rejoice when ‘good’ things occur and suffer when experiencing themselves or others treated as disposable objects. Every story in this book is a gem. If The Chimpanzee Chronicles doesn’t move readers toward some type of action, I’m not sure what will.

—Marc Bekoff, from the foreword Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and author of Rewilding Our Hearts and The Animals’ Agenda

The deep suffering that human beings can inflict on chimpanzees because of their legal status as things, not persons, is made plain in The Chimpanzee Chronicles. As one compelling story follows another, readers viscerally experience what these cognitively and emotionally complex beings lose in captivity and what the fortunate few are able to regain thanks to their resolute human champions. Before these magnificent beings are gone forever, they need us to imagine a world in which their autonomy is respected and protected so they may live freely, with peace and dignity. This remarkable book will certainly help us get there.

—Steven M. Wise Founder and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project and author of Rattling the Cage 

There is no doubt in my mind after reading the astonishing stories in The Chimpanzee Chronicles that chimpanzees are people. After reading this compelling and completely convincing book, you will understand why chimpanzees deserve freedom from any harm, including lives in laboratories, circuses, and zoos. Debra Rosenman has done an excellent job in proving to the world that chimpanzees deserve to be held in the same regard as humans.

—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, PhD Author of When Elephants Weep and Beasts

From the frontlines of the war against wildlife, The Chimpanzee Chronicles is a unique collection of memories from some of the most courageous people on earth. In these pages are those who endure civil and international wars, who fight in either the most familiar or far-flung places on earth, and who often risk their lives for the chimpanzees they so dearly love. These are stories of strength, inspiration, and hope. This is perhaps the first time we have heard such extraordinary truths written by those who have witnessed firsthand how close we are to our chimpanzee relatives and how we must save them at all costs.

—Vanessa Woods New York Times best-selling author of Bonobo Handshake

This is a book about hope. It is not always easy to read—being about children snatched from their mothers’ arms and abused in sometimes shocking ways—but it chronicles the efforts of good people working to right wrongs. The fact that the children in question are of another species almost pales, given their equal capacity to suffer, anticipate harm, and welcome love and their gestural and vocal ability to reach across the species barrier and melt hearts. Unfortunately that ability is why some people want to acquire baby apes, stimulating the illegal capture and commerce that shatters chimpanzee families and endangers them as a species. The Chimpanzee Chronicles is a riveting compilation of twenty-five powerful stories that will grip you, inform you about our zoological kin, and inspire you to support those who fight for their survival. 

—Ian Redmond, OBE Ambassador, UNEP Convention on Migratory Species; chairman, Ape Alliance and the Gorilla Organization; an ambassador and consultant for vEcoTourism.org

Debra Rosenman’s riveting collection of stories clarifies the moral imperative of caring for the thousands of chimpanzees currently suffering in villages, zoos, and laboratories throughout the world. Reading The Chimpanzee Chronicles ensures that we see chimpanzees as the sentient and intelligent beings they are and acknowledge that their lives matter, too. Such a change in perspective is crucial if we are to have any hope of slowing or stopping our reckless assault on the natural world.

—Cleve Hicks, PhD Primatologist, lead researcher of the Bili Chimpanzee Project, DRC, and author of A Rhino to the Rescue

If captive chimpanzees chose to write their own books for humans, The Chimpanzee Chronicles might well be one of them. This anthology is an impassioned call for a new generation of human ethical treatment of chimpanzees—our own veritable kin—as well as all other species on this fragile planet.

—Michael Charles Tobias, PhD Author, global ecologist, animal activist, filmmaker, and president of Dancing Star Foundation

Debra Rosenman has collected stories that are surprising, heartbreaking, and heart-warming. Every page is astonishing. A compelling read that will leave you wondering if chimpanzees might well be more human than we are.

—Nancy Merrick, MD Author of Among Chimpanzees

Our closest cousins deserve to be treated with dignity and respect whether in captivity or in the wild, something The Chimpanzee Chronicles demonstrates exceptionally well. Debra Rosenman inspires a call to action, both locally and internationally, to stop the inhumane treatment and improve the lives of all chimpanzees.

—Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

First wildlife veterinary officer of the Uganda Wildlife Authority and founder of Conservation Through Public Health and Gorilla Conservation Coffee

Rosenman’s Chimpanzee Chronicles is a moving and important contribution to the growing understanding of our moral obligation to primates, our next of kin. Here history is written by leading primatologists, ethologists, activists, artists, and sanctuary staff, who share their experiences with heart, insight, and understanding. The point driven home through their poignant observations about chimpanzees is: we have exploited and wronged them, and this chapter in history must now close, never to be repeated.

—Jo-Anne McArthur Photojournalist, activist, and author of We Animals and Captive

Rosenman’s Chronicles gives the reader an up-close understanding of the atrocities we have perpetuated against our closest genetic relatives, as well as the miracles that individuals have achieved for and through them. If you long for heroes, both human and other animal, and want to better understand humankind’s place among all creatures, this book is the right place to start. It is a celebration—of chimpanzees and humans, the important connections between us, and the bridge chimpanzees provide us to all other species.

—Theodora Capaldo, EdD President emeritus, New England Anti-Vivisection Society

From around the globe, The Chimpanzee Chronicles tells inspiring and heartbreaking stories of casualties and survivors of a long war on these sensitive, strong, and resilient beings. Their stories, told by humans battling for justice on their behalf, show how visible and invisible wounds can begin to heal with freedom, safety, love, and respect. Their urgent plight and our response provide invaluable lessons on how humans can change the lives of other animals—for better or worse.

—Hope Ferdowsian, MD, MPH, FACP, FACPM Physician, human and animal rights advocate, and author of Phoenix Zones

The stories told in this wonderful book will open up a whole new world to anyone who reads them. The writing is powerful, emotional, entertaining, and funny. What can’t be denied is the strong connection that people from different countries and backgrounds share once they spend time with a chimpanzee. I urge everyone to read about these extraordinary individuals, both human and chimp.

—Jocelyn Bezner, VMD Senior veterinarian, Save the Chimps

The Chimpanzee Chronicles is a well-crafted collection of touching and sometimes startling vignettes from people whose lives have been irrevocably altered through their interactions with our closest living relatives—chimpanzees. Readers will be genuinely touched by these stories and ultimately inspired by the emotional journeys experienced by chimpanzees and humans alike.

—Stephen Ross, PhD Director, Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes