Anthropology News • December 2006 DIALOGUE

spent with botanists and curanderos iden- Correspondence tifying plants, and evenings were spent Save the Apes From the Continued from page 3 drinking the ayahuasca brew. Notables in attendance included the psychotherapist Ralph Metzner and the pharmacophile Ape Rights Activists! Jonathan Ott, the latter of whom con- JONATHAN MARKS stimulating environments and are consistently employed in order to silence cocted a brew so strong that one poor U NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE tended by sensitive, compassion- political critique of Israeli state violence soul from Iowa imagined that he was in ate and knowledgeable caretakers. and policies of depopulation. Such calls the midst of a nuclear apocalypse. nimal Rights activists The apes are in no way being tor- for “balance” or assertions that one Fast forward to 2005, and I was must give “equal air time” to all sides told that the Ecuadorian Napo Runa started up The Great tured, imprisoned or murdered. In- in a conflict work to hide existing imbal- family, who had facilitated my gradu- Ape Project in 1993 deed, the major defi cits in the lives ances in military, political, economic and ate anthropology fieldwork, had been A with the goal of gen- of these chimpanzees are coming discursive power. The Israeli-Lebanese invited to the first annual Amazonian erating worldwide support for the paradoxically from the activities war of this summer was not a conflict Shamanism Conference in Iquitos, extension of human rights to the of the Great Ape Project. between two equivalent actors. Peru. I attended as the family’s official apes, specifi cally those of life, lib- The success that the Great Ape Furthermore, mainstream media cov- “anthropologist,” despite the unusu- erty and freedom from torture. Project has enjoyed in convinc- erage in the US consistently represents ally high conference fee of $500. Well Of course, no sane person is in ing people that these chimpanzees Arab lives as less valuable than Israeli known anthropologists, psychologists, favor of death, incarceration and are being maltreated (as of course ones. Sympathy is not the issue here; pharmacologists, biologists, journalists torture for the apes. I still don’t chimpanzees have been, in other providing an alternative to misrepresen- and curanderos were present including tations and policies that condone civilian Luis Eduardo Luna, Dennis McKenna know what a “right to liberty” times and in other places) has deaths is. and Peter Gorman, among others. The would actually imply, although it resulted in budgetary constraints For a deeper, more contextualized week-long conference, which will host seems rather that they want to that serve to retard the ambitions understanding of Hizbullah, this recent its third annual installment in summer shut down all zoos and dump of these facilities to upgrade the war and its ramifications, I once again 2007, alternated days of lectures and the apes on the streets of Nairobi. quality of life for the chimpanzees, refer readers to my primer at www. presentations with shamanistic healing While attending two recent confer- which they would actually like very merip.org, to Augustus Richard Norton’s ceremonies facilitated by predominately ences (“Chimpanzees in Research: much to do. They are not keep- writings on the party, and to the reports male curanderos from the Iquitos area. A Vital Resource for Medical ing the chimps in steel shoeboxes, of Amnesty International and Human While the conference papers had Advancements” and “Nonhuman as the Great Ape Project seems Rights Watch, as well as to a recent spe- scholarly merit and were presented by Primate Models for AIDS,” both to think; they are keeping them cial issue of the MIT Electronic Journal of respected researchers, the real draw Middle East Studies on the topic. of the conference for attendees was hosted by the Yerkes Regional in social groups. The research the The notion that Hizbullah started this to experience healing ceremonies with Primate Center of Emory University chimpanzees are being subjected war rests on an extremely short-range respected indigenous curanderos, mainly in Atlanta), I learned about the to is far more like the medical treat- view of events, ignoring a longstanding from the Iquitos region, and to connect success the Great Ape Project has ments I receive today (injections, history of conflict that includes at least with the ecotours of Machu Picchu and enjoyed over the last decade, and blood drawing, CAT scans and so three Israeli land invasions of Lebanon the Amazon River after the conference. its consequences are chilling. forth) than like the treatment peo- and numerous air attacks. Since the Conferences such as these are a bur- ple received in Auschwitz. Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese ter- geoning cottage industry, as the fasci- One significant aspect of both ritory in 2000, the reports of the UN nation with ayahuasca healing plants ETHICAL CURRENTS the quality of life and the pres- Interim Forces in Lebanon have noted spreads throughout American popular ervation of the species involves border violations by both sides—the culture, and the virtual community dedi- crucial difference being that the bulk of cated to these topics grows. the breeding of chimpanzees in Hizbullah’s violations involved attacks on Anthropologists involved with this Living Conditions in these research facilities. Partly as Israeli soldiers, while Israel’s violations issue have the responsibility to defend Research Facilities a result of the agitation of animal included the kidnapping of Lebanese legitimate ayahuasca research and use of I don’t work directly with chim- rights activists, there has been a civilians, as well as almost daily viola- the drug in a ritualized context, yet the panzees. In fairness, they frighten moratorium imposed since 1997 tions of Lebanese airspace by Israeli growth of ayahuasca drug and ecotour- me, because they are considerably on the breeding of chimpanzees in planes engaged in psychological war- ism deserves more careful examination stronger than I am, and are some- these research facilities. Here is an fare against the Lebanese population to determine what effects regulation times unpredictably violent in ingenious paradox then: the Great through breaking the sound barrier over would have on the local economies that their behavior, both in the wild, Ape Project’s work has helped to major urban areas. In such a situation of profit from these activities. In order to and in otherwise cushy captive set- make it impossible at present for imbalance, a critical anthropology that is assist in this determination, research tings—as the sad case of St James committed to critiquing asymmetries of studies documenting the rise in inci- these chimpanzees to enjoy the power should interrogate the conditions dence of poisonings by inexperienced and LaDonna Davis, who were pleasures of parenthood. that produce rhetorical justifications for curanderos should be a precursor to any attacked and mauled in a chim- state violence and civilian deaths. policy recommendations. panzee sanctuary in California last Animal Research and Lara Deeb Juan Luque year, amply demonstrated. I was Medical Consequences UC Irvine Moffitt Cancer Center grateful, however, for the opportu- There is an even darker side to the nity to see the chimpanzees in the working of the Great Ape Project, Drug Tourism AN would like to renew readers’ atten- Yerkes research facility and to see however. Since there are no chim- I agree with the problems of ayahuasca tion to the AAA’s recommendation (from their living conditions. The chim- panzees in these research facilities drug tourism raised by Marlene Dobkin its Resolution on Open Employment, panzees at Yerkes, and at the few below the ago of ten, there are also de Rios in her article in the October 1973) that in employing anthropologists other facilities that keep chimpan- none with naïve immune systems. 2006 AN; however, I believe there is “solicitation of letters of recommenda- zees for scientifi c research, live in Why might it be desirable to have another trend in the rise of ayahuasca tion should occur only after an initial ecotourism in South America that was screening of candidates to minimize not addressed, namely the growth of inconvenience to applicants and refer- Commentary Policy international shamanism conferences and ees. Names of referees may be request- AN Commentaries are designed to explore diverse views of the discipline from an courses. In 1990, I attended a two-week- ed, however.” The language in the AN anthropological perspective. Commentaries reflect the views of the authors; their pub- long field school on ethnobotany and Job Placement Statement on Policy has lication does not signify endorsement by AN or the AAA. Authors are expected to verify shamanism at Jatun Sacha, a biological been revised to better express this rec- all factual information included in the text. research station in Ecuador. Days were ommendation. —Ed. 4 DIALOGUE December 2006 • Anthropology News

young chimpanzees in medical, disease. Apes and monkeys have rights in far less contrived senses they are people, not how and specifi cally in immunological indeed died in biomedical con- than those invoked for the apes. smart they are. research? A simple reason: Chim- texts, but I am glad to have the Further, biomedical research on The casual comparison panzees do not get AIDS. vaccines against polio and hep- apes has also had salutary medi- of nonhuman primates Mull that over for a second. atitis, as well as other diseases, cal consequences for the health to disabled or mentally handi- Chimpanzees do not get AIDS. You can give them the virus, but they don’t develop the symptoms of the The real problem that apes face is not in research facilities. disease. Would you like to know why? Do you think that information might be beneficial in developing a It is in the wild, where irreversible anthropogenic changes— treatment for the millions of human beings who have the virus and the principally deforestation and economic development, but disease, or who have the virus and are going to get the disease? also disease and hunting—leave very dire predictions for their If the answer to either of those questions is yes, then you may consider holding the Great Ape existence only a few decades from now.

of ape populations themselves. capped people is particularly repre- Without that research, medical hensible, for it serves to dehuman- care for apes will be severely com- ize those very people whose own promised as well. rights are most consistently and conspicuously in jeopardy. What the Real Problems Are The real problem that apes face Primate Welfare and is not in research facilities. It is in Obligations the wild, where irreversible an- Consequently, there is a strange thropogenic changes—principally mix of biophilia and misanthropy deforestation and economic devel- in the Great Ape Project. Frans opment, but also disease and hunt- de Waal has argued that primate ing—leave very dire predictions for welfare or obligations is a better their existence only a few decades way to frame the discussion of the from now. As disease decimates ape future of primate research. I also populations, the Great Ape Project fi nd that to be a far more sensible condemns medical research, but cause than talking about “rights.” offers no alternatives to it. Indeed, the fact that the great apes Couple that fact with the mor- are being very explicitly used as a atorium imposed upon breeding wedge for according human rights chimps in these research facili- to all animals suggests to me that ties, and it is not too difficult to the leaders of the project are not project that the Great Ape Project at all lovers of apes, nor even of may very likely be the ultimate cause primates, but are as callously ex- of the extinction of the great apes. ploitative of the apes and of the Philosophers, zoologists, anthropol- challenges to ape welfare and ogists and anyone who cares about survival for their own demagogic apes will soon be asking: Were these purposes as any circus trainer ever people flat-out nuts? What the hell was in theirs. were they thinking? In short, I do not doubt the good Finally, the Great Ape Project intentions of anyone interested in makes its plea for human/ape the improvement of the quality of rights with cherry-picked scientific life for apes in captivity, and for work, which is unfortunately pre- their protection as long as possible sented as if its interpretation were in the wild, but confusing apes unproblematic. for people, misrepresenting their For example, the genetic similar- treatment and preventing medical ity of apes and humans is irrel- research on them is not a produc- evant to rights, unless you believe tive response to the problems faced that the allotment of human rights by apes today. We all know where should be predicated on genet- the road paved with those good A chimpanzee baby used in AIDS research is comforted by a doctor. Photo courtesy ic distances. That view, however, intentions leads. of Steve Winter/National Geographic/Getty Images would align you with the losing side of World War II. Jonathan Marks is a professor of an- that were thereby made possible. Project accountable for the fact The cognitive abilities of apes thropology at UNC-Charlotte and a for- that the research to address that Humans, it occasionally needs to are also irrelevant to rights. In a mer president of the General Anthropol- question is currently not being be pointed out, are also sentient, modern liberal democracy, stupid ogy Division. He is the author of Human undertaken, while millions of emotionally complex, rational people merit the same rights as Biodiversity (1995) and What It Means humans are suffering from the beings, and are persons who merit bright people. The key issue is that to Be 98% Chimpanzee (2002). 5