Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, edited by Marc Bekoff. 4 vols. 1,458p. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 978-0-313-33487-0; 2007-16552. $ 499.95.

Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships No one knows precisely when the first animals were domesticated, but there is general agreement that dogs are the likeliest candidates for earliest domestication. When humans first crossed the Bering land bridge into North America some 12,000 years ago, they brought with them a furry companion that assisted in tracking and hunting large game animals. This social relationship is believed to have derived from a more ancient kinship shared by wolves and men. Smaller and weaker than the bison and big game that they hunted, both wolves and men developed social systems in which they hunted larger animals in packs. Competing for the same game, the two groups had ample opportunity to observe the activities of the other. At some point, the benefits of these observations extended beyond simply stealing the kills of the other. The ancestors of dogs may have diverged from wolves before domestication, or humans may have actually intervened by selecting and raising orphaned wolf pups. Recent DNA studies have demonstrated that all modern breeds of dogs are not only descended from wolves but from one of three female animals originating in northeastern Asia 13,000 years ago.

From silk worms and honeybees to horses and elephants, humans have deliberately manipulated dozens of species for their benefit for many millennia. By predation, pollution and competition for resources, we have impacted the existence of thousands more. Many animals held in zoos around the world are now dependent on humans for the very survival of their kind. This ground-breaking guide explores the nature of human-animal relationships. Most of the 365 essays and sidebar entries describe the many ways in which animals have been a service to mankind. Animals have not just provided direct benefits as sources of food, labor and assistance, but have also served as the basis of belief systems, literature and other traditional practices. Today, as the subjects of research they have provide important findings in health, medicine, communication, behavioral, and environmental research. The articles of this encyclopedia treat these topics, as well as conservation issues and the ability of animals to coexist in the same environments with humans. With the editor’s extensive background in animal rights, there is much attention to ethics, animal research, and enriching the lives of domesticated or captive animals. The nature of human-animal bonds, companionship and teaching the benefits of animal relationships also are important themes. With discussions of 55 types of animals, this guide is not intended as exhaustive survey of the history of the relationships of animals and humans. Instead, the intention is more to introduce the range of issues involved. To this end, the editor has excelled at matching contributors to topics in which their research or careers have been actively involved. Thus, Terry Root writes on the effects on global warming on animal behavior. Biologist and animal conservationist, Christopher Papouchis, discusses mountain lions. When discussing bonding, Jane Goodall describes how her relationship to a neighborhood dog helped her defy the scientific conventions of her time and document animal emotions and personalities. The provocative essays of this encyclopedia should command an interested audience from high school to adult, but are especially recommended for academic libraries.
—John R.M. Lawrence