Orang-utans and the Rainforest

We humans have had a contradictory and problematic relationship with primates, especially the great apes. We have hunted, killed and in many instances used them as objects for our amusement (Eudy 1994). In some of our cultures, great apes are still considered simply as resources: as good food, as sources of artefacts that confer strength and special powers to their owners, and as objects for display. In others, great apes are valued even less, being regarded as pests or as dangerous competitors for living space (Kaplan & Rogers 1995). The idea that apes may be important for ecology is more recent, as is the kind of popular adulation now in vogue that emphasises how closely we are related to the great apes. Some of the modern romanticism about great apes is also linked to particular schools of thought or, simply, to a market niche in eco-tourism (see below).