Encountering Gorillas

August 19, 2013
Syracuse professor Newman has compiled a thorough history of our interactions with gorillas from the jungle to the cage. Beginning with 19th century sightings that perpetuated more myth than fact, Newman documents the early attempts to capture them which usually ended tragically as they succumbed to human viruses and faulty diets. By the 20th century researchers like George B. Schaller and Dian Fossey contribute valuable insights on the creature’s habits in its natural environment, work that eventually leads to protecting the species in the wild as well as improving their conditions in zoos. A chapter on “famous gorillas” is the most entertaining as Newman details the lives of caged gorillas, such as Binti Jua, the gorilla who saved the life of a three-year-old boy after he fell into its habitat. Unfortunately Newman approaches the subject with no unique point of view, providing a history that reads more like a long Wikipedia entry. His opinions come out in criticisms of the famously controversial Fossey whose lifelong work protecting gorillas in the wild and improving their conditions in captivity is given little praise. Animal rights groups and natural sanctuaries are also criticized in favor of modern day zoos, the only place the author has ever actually encountered a gorilla.

June 15, 2013

Newman (geography, emeritus, Syracuse Univ.; Paths Without Glory: Richard Francis Burton in Africa) presents a poignant review of our relationship with the African gorilla from earliest European contact to the present, and reflects on the future of our fellow primate. Much as Barry Lopez's Of Wolves and Men traced the long human history of fear, mistrust, and ignorance surrounding our view of wolves, so does Newman catalog over two centuries of myth and misperception about gorillas. The author covers four essential themes--discovery, exploitation, understanding, and future survival. He leads readers through a litany of early misunderstanding of the gorilla, when it was thought of as a threatening and savage demon, and discusses our current understanding of it as a complex social animal, sensitive, intelligent, and frail against the onslaught of human activities. An accomplished Africanist, Newman illustrates the multiple threats to the survival of this species, from timber harvesting and habitat loss, owing to encroaching human populations and civil wars, to the documented impact of human diseases upon them. An extensive bibliography offers interested readers much for further review. VERDICT This sometimes heartbreaking exploration will be of keen interest to any reader concerned with the effects of human development on the ecology of the African continent and its gorillas.--John Creech, Central Washington Univ. Lib., Ellensburg

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