Shirley C. Strum is a primatologist, conservationist and author. In 1972 she began a study of olive baboons in Kenya that is ongoing and among the longest wildlife field studies on record. Her findings changed scientific and popular perceptions of baboons dominance hierarchies, male aggression, social conduct and troop structure, and the baboon mind.
On this episode of Nature Revisited, Strum recounts her extraordinary fifty-year journey in Kenya alongside baboons, where she uncovered their unexpectedly complex strategies of negotiation, collaboration, and resilience in the face of adversity. From the evolution of social bonds and trust in baboon society to confronting the consequences of human-wildlife conflict, Strum describes how these primates transformed not just her scientific understanding, but also her perspective on life, people, nature, and evolution.
