Threatened

Chimpanzees are the closest relative to humans--but in some areas of the world they are hunted for game and for food. Many people, including Jane Goodall, have brought attention to this problem. In Threatened by Eliot Schrefer, a young boy inadvertently becomes one of the chimpanzee heroes. Luc is an AIDS orphan living essentially on his own, trying to make enough to pay back his mother's dept to an unscrupulous money lender. When a professor carrying a metal case comes to town Luc thinks he has found an easy mark. Immediately tracked down, the professor instead pays Luc's debt and takes him "inside" to be his research assistant among the chimps.

Soon left alone among the chimps and other predators, what follows is a beautiful and miraculous story of a boy who saves a pair of orphaned chimpanzees and is inducted into their family. Protected and adopted, Luc makes his home with the only family he has left.

This story is heartfelt and important. As mentioned several times throughout the book and authors notes, we can only protect what we understand and love. Read this book.