There is no doubt that Jane Goodall and Dianne Fossey, both immortalized
in beautifully photographed National Geographic articles, revolutionized
primate research in the wild and introduced the uninitiated to
the delights and thrills of field work with chimpanzees and gorillas.
There is, however, another dimension to the story of primate behaviour
which has been powerfully documented by Hans Kummer in his fascinating
book In Quest of the Sacred Baboon, subtitled A Scientist’s Journey.
A journey in both the physical and spiritual sense, it commences
with a small population of hamadryas baboons, a semi-desert dweller
which the ancient Egyptians believed to be the incarnation of
the god Thoth, resident in Zurich Zoo and takes us across the
deserts of Ethiopia to the sparse Asir Mountains in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia.
Hans Kummer not only re-creates the adventure and intellectual
thrill of the early days of field research on primates, he also
writes with great perception and sensitivity about the people
and places he visited and his own personal growth. Although at
all times scientifically accurate as he describes in detail the
social structure of the hamadryas baboon, Kummer deliberately
eschews the arid language of scientific journals to paint a truly
vivid picture of the pioneering work of Project Hamadryas.
Although much of the work was accomplished in the Danakil Desert
in Ethiopia, Kummer notes that there are no obvious differences
in external form between the Arabian and the Ethiopian hamadryas
baboons. Furthermore, he says the behaviour of the animals to
the west of the Red Sea and east of the Red Sea differed only
with respect to a very few gestures. ‘Behavioral comparison gives
preliminary evidence that the separation between the east and
west coast populations occurred only a few thousand years ago’,
he comments.
Hamadryas baboons are considered to have one of the most highly
structured social systems among primates, very close, in some
respects, to that of humans. Kummer notes: ‘It lives in a patriarchal
community in which the male has evolved both of the fundamental
aspects of fighting: a sharp canine tooth and a network of alliances.
This finding was a surprise to us. In most related primate species
the network of alliances is the specialty of females.’The fascinating
thing about the patriarchal hamadryas males is that they have
managed to integrate permanent female ‘relationships’ into a cooperative
male society, despite intense competition for females. This social
structure is apparently found in only two other primate species:
the gelada baboon of the high mountains in Ethiopia, and the human.
Kummer stresses the necessity for dialogue with nature for successful
field research. He points out that when the study animal seems
to conform to all the researchers hypotheses then it is unlikely
dialogue has been attained. Sympathetic portraits of many students
of animal behaviour are to be found in the pages of the book,
however it is the unschooled bedouin boy Mahdi from Wadi Ranyah
in Saudi Arabia who receives the most praise for his innate scientific
abilities: ‘I was moved by my little colleague. What he said bore
the stamp of accurate personal observation. Still more convincing
were his imitations, because there could be no mistake in translation.
What the male “says” to his fallible female was preceded by the
cautious formulation “as though,” a turn of phrase that elegantly
separates interpretation from observation – the primary virtue
of the scientist.’
Project Hamadryas was effectively ended by the war in Ogaden in
1977, however hamadryas baboon research in the field has continued
in Saudi Arabia. The work of Saudi biologist Ahmed Bourg and French
primatologists, Sylvain Biquand and Veronique Biquand-Guyot is
given particular mention in Kummer’s book.
In Quest of the Sacred Baboon, has something for everyone – scientist,
naturalist, armchair traveller, and student of human nature.