The Primate Guide is an open source compedium of Primate related materials.
The purpose of this guide is to educate, entertain, and entice you to get involved in learning more about your fellow primates.
Conservation is a battle to be waged on two fronts. Primarily of course, we have to protect the endangered animals. We have to protect their habitats, and protect them against human threats. Secondarily though, we need to create a library of materials that records our world and the other creatures in it, so that even if we can't keep these species from disappearing in the wild, we can at least sustain some kind of record of the tremendous wealth we may soon lose forever.
These are our own precious family photos. We are after all less than 2% away from the Chimpanzee and the Bonobo in the composition of our DNA, having diverged from a common ancestor only 6 or so million years ago.
These are your brothers and sisters. These are the closest animals in the world to us, and yet, they are so meager in number, and people still hunt them for food, as well as taking over their habitat to make fields for crops.
The other primates are faced with many of the same problems we face. They confront common social dilemmas. They make choices that are all too familiar to us. Some of them struggle to establish their dominance with aggression and bravado. Some of them wage primative wars with neighboring groups, killing their own kind.
Some of them though, make very different choices. Bonobos for example prefer to resolve conflict through sensual intercourse with one another. The males have teeth but do not use them on the females. There is no relationship not mediated with sex. All types of coupling are known. They appear to have linguistic tendencies similar to ours, demonstrating left brain dominance and an understanding of the self. These are glorious creatures worthy of the greatest respect.
We have both evolved from a common ancestor, but we cannot claim to be ahead in the genetic race. They watch us. They learn from us. We do not always show the same integrity and depth of character.
You should seek to know your world.