Cover image for Following Fifi : my adventures among wild chimpanzees : lessons from our closest relatives
Following Fifi : my adventures among wild chimpanzees : lessons from our closest relatives
Title:
Following Fifi : my adventures among wild chimpanzees : lessons from our closest relatives
Publication Date as Range:
2017
ISBN:
9781681775685
Edition:
First Pegasus Books edition.
Physical Description:
xv, 269 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), map ; 24 cm
General Note:
Includes index.
Contents:
Part one: Into the forest -- Gombe arrival -- Settling in -- A day in the life of Fifi and Freud -- Of chimps and men -- Madame Bee holds her own -- Trust and security -- My friend and mentor: Hamisi Matama -- Knowing Jane -- Leave-taking -- Part two: The medical path -- Entering the medical field -- Forest reflections: jungle influences in my practice -- Part three: Return to Gombe -- Gombe calling -- Reunion with Jane -- Gombe return -- Back to the forest -- Jane's Peak -- Finding my place -- Forest reflections: how wild chimpanzees helped make me a better father - A path less traveled: Bubongo village -- More forest reflections: broadening my perspective on family medicine -- Good-bye again -- Keeping up with Jane.
Abstract:
An exhilarating quest into a remote African forest to examine chimpanzees and understand the roots of human behavior. As a young student, John Crocker embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, spending eight months in the Gombe forest working with Jane Goodall. He followed families of wild chimpanzees from sunrise to sunset and learned the fundamental behavioral traits of these chimps as they raised their offspring. One chimpanzee captivated him. Her name was Fifi, and she displayed extraordinary patience and reassurance toward her infant, Freud. Upon returning home and becoming a doctor, Crocker found himself incorporating the lessons he learned from Fifi into his work as a father and physician. When he witnessed his young patients rocketing around his exam room, he would picture Fifi’s patience and tacit approval of Freud’s uninhibited and joyful exploration. Crocker shares how his time spent with our closest animal cousins has helped him better understand his patients with ADD, anxiety, and depression, and how primate traits hardwired into our own natural behavior help chimpanzees protect their community, raise their young, and survive. Finally, chronicling his return to Gombe thirty-six years later with his own son, he reflects on how his experience with the chimps has come full circle.
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