LEARNING TO BE WILD

Chimpanzees, scarlet macaws, and sperm whales all have cultures worthy of respect.

Science writer Safina investigates social learning to prove that animals, like humans, have cultures—they learn how to be who they are. Learned cultures provide skills, identity, a sense of belonging, and traditions. He describes chimps learning ways to survive and make peace within their communities, macaws learning where and how to forage, and sperm whales growing up and thriving in family groups. In Uganda, the Peruvian Amazon, and Dominica, the author joins scientists studying each of these species. His observations are fascinating, full of vignettes about individual animals and information about their behaviors. This is a genuine revision for younger readers of his adult title Becoming Wild (2020), a reframing that is less political and philosophical and more focused on the animals and their intriguing behaviors than on the many, many threats they face. The immediacy and detail of these observations bring readers right into the experience of field science. Most thought-provoking, perhaps, are Safina’s explanation of culture and his observation that, “without some original innovator...there is no knowledge, skill or tradition that could get shared; no culture to copy and conform to.” Black-and-white photographs of the scientists and their subjects are interspersed throughout the text.

A well-crafted adaptation offering an extraordinary look at animal worlds.