Description
ANCESTRAL attempts to reveal what lies beyond the science or disbelief that we share 98.9% of our DNA with primates. In spending a mere two days at the Jane Goodall founded Chimp Eden (South Africa) in observation and wonder with Mowgli, a rescued chimpanzee, I found my answer. And it is simple. However similar we may be, we are also so importantly unique. In this case Mowgli’s story. I have not lost my mother to poachers, been abducted from my homeland, smuggled to, and ultimately confiscated in a foreign land. I have not been left orphaned with six other infants, confined by trauma and uncertainty. And ultimately reintroduced to a new family.
As I heard more and more about his story, my thoughts gave way to feeling and I began to see the weight in his eyes. I realized that while we both have our own set of memories, we can share in pain, doubt, and fear. More importantly that we can help one another see beyond the fences that separate us now. We have the ability to safeguard and nurture our kin, no matter how vastly similar or different they are to us. That all species deserve to be respected and included in mankind’s attempt to “evolve”. This is in honor of all the little Mowgli’s out there, who have not yet shared their stories with man.
