Just In: Monkey Sighting Outside My Dorm Room Window

I watched them for almost an hour, they were so mesmerizing. I could tell they had a complex social system that I was not even beginning to understand, nor, arguably, could I truly understand from my human perspective. At one point a couple of the monkeys climbed up a pole right next to my window and went into the common room across the landing for some tasty mango peels from the garbage. One of them made eye contact with me for a solid 10 seconds, it's face within a meter of mine. I had a rare feeling, one that is both unsettling and overwhelmingly fulfilling, that the monkey was not only looking at me, but seeing me, and I the monkey. I have these moments with Sparky and I'll admit they sometimes leave me teary-eyed. So often we look at animals, as if they are objects, rather than truly seeing them, for the individuals that they are. As I watched them (and they watched me--they glanced up from time to time) I thought about how observation and interaction with animals disallows us separation of ourselves from them. Our modern lives allow us to avoid these kinds of interactions. When we take time--and have the opportunity--to observe, it becomes very hard to justify participating in systems that destroy habitats, prevent natural lifestyles, and exact unimaginable cruelty. Personally, I don't believe zoos, circuses, SeaWorld etc count as interactions; in these instances the animals are objectified and exploited. It removes the uncertainty, the uneasiness we should feel about being on their turf. When we have the opportunity to experience interaction with other species we realize animals too have thoughts, motivations, families and they too experience curiosity about the world, including us.

People often argue that humans "should" be dominant because of our intellectual capacity. While this capacity has been evolutionarily advantageous--recent hypotheses posit that it originally arose for the purpose of tracking animals during the persistence hunt, which also molded our physical characteristics (Born to Run, McDougall)--other organisms have evolved other capacities.Why do we privilege our own unique capacities? Because they're ours. Because we can. But is it wise? Evolution is not an endgame. All creatures living today have undergone the same amount of natural selection, and all have a niche in the world. Something to think about.

Now look at some monkeys!!

In Botswana, even in Gaborone, cows can often be seen occupying empty lots or perusing green spaces alongside the roads. I often run past them (and sometimes maneuver my way through them) on the path by the game reserve. At first I was nervous when I saw them, but I soon realized the were gentle, laid-back, but also curious creatures. I saw this video recently that just might make you rethink your consumption of cow products--or at least become more conscientious about the source of these products, and of the human use of animals more generally.

Namaste.