Papers by Nicholas Malone
International Journal of Primatology, Dec 21, 2017
The majority of studies in ethnoprimatology focus on areas of sympatry where humans and nonhuman ... more The majority of studies in ethnoprimatology focus on areas of sympatry where humans and nonhuman primates (hereafter, primates) naturally coexist. We argue that much can be gained by extending the field's scope to incorporate settings where humans manage most aspects of primates' lives, such as zoos, laboratories, sanctuaries, and rehabilitation centers (hereafter, managed settings). We suggest that the mixed-methods approach of ethnoprimatology, which facilitates examination of both humans' and primates' responses to one another, can reveal not only how humans' ideas about primates shape management strategies, but also how those management strategies affect primates' lives. Furthermore, we note that a greater focus on managed settings will strengthen links between ethnoprimatology and primate rights/welfare approaches, and will introduce new questions into discussions of ethics in primatology. For example, managed settings raise questions about when it might be justifiable to restrict primates' freedom for a Bgreater good,^and the desirability of making primates' lives more Bnatural^even if this would decrease their well-being. Finally, we propose that because ethnoprimatology is premised on challenging false dichotomies between categories of field site-specifically, between Bnatural^and Bunnatural^free-ranging populations-it makes sense for ethnoprimatologists to examine settings in which humans exert considerable control over primates' lives, given that the distinction between Bwild^and Bcaptive^is similarly unclear.
Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Amelia F, Iskandar J, Partasasmita R, Malone N. 2018. Recognizing indigenous knowledge of the Kar... more Amelia F, Iskandar J, Partasasmita R, Malone N. 2018. Recognizing indigenous knowledge of the Karangwangi Rural Landscape in South Cianjur, Indonesia for sustainable land management. Biodiversitas 19: 1722-1729. Karangwangi is a rural community on the south coast of West Java, Indonesia. The people of Karangwangi possess traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of local landscapes through cultural inheritance and personal experiences of interacting with their environment. The people of Karangwani Village recognize various natural-cultural landscape types, including leuweung (forest); swidden field (huma); wet rice fields (sawah); home garden (pekarangan); garden (kebun); mixed-garden (kebun campuran); river (sungai); and sea (laut). These various landscapes have continuously changed over time due to people’s socio-economic and cultural activities. The aim of this study was to develop an ethnoecological approach to elucidate historical changes to the Karangwangi landscapes. Toward this...
Ethnoprimatology
The major questions asked in this chapter are: How can the incorporation of an ethnographic persp... more The major questions asked in this chapter are: How can the incorporation of an ethnographic perspective contribute to ethnoprimatological endeavors? And how is this complicated task achieved? Here, we seek to cover some of the basic protocols of ethnographic data collection and management, including: documenting consent; maintaining conditions of anonymity and confidentiality; and respecting the rights of participants upon their decision to “opt-in” to a research project. The theoretical basis used to examine this issue is: In our research and in this chapter, we engage in an anthropological primatology that is both anti-reductionist and reflexive. Elsewhere, similar principles have been characterized as contributing to an “informed” (Riley, 2013) and an “ethically grounded” (Malone and Palmer, 2014) primatology. The methods used to answer this question are: In this chapter, we review our collective engagement with human participant ethics committees from a variety of ethnoprimatological research projects. We include examples from our research that uses multiple methods to gain an ethnographic perspective, including: interviews; participant observation; cultural mapping; ethological observations of animals; ecological monitoring of habitats; discourse analysis of contemporary and historical texts; archival research; and free-listing exercises. These methods can be used to ask similar ethnoprimatological questions, such as: The discussion of our experiences with, and subsequent handling of, ethical challenges is meant neither to be comprehensive nor prescriptive. To the contrary, we endeavor to stimulate critical thinking and heighten awareness of the complexities inherent in the human–nonhuman primate (H–NHP) interface.
Bioarchaeology International, 2022
Zoonoses are significant in human histories, and in histories of other species and the environmen... more Zoonoses are significant in human histories, and in histories of other species and the environment. Diseases have been an important evolutionary force, not just the major epidemics but the quieter endemic diseases. These infectious diseases comprise complex events and cycles involving multiple actors (humans, animals, and microorganisms). Despite difficulties of preservation, identification, and interpretation, bioarchaeologists have often analyzed zoonotic diseases. However, these studies have tended to focus on an individual disease and its emergence as opposed to the human-animal interactions and complex environmental cycles that underlie zoonotic disease more broadly. In this paper, after a brief review of zoonotic disease and bioarchaeological studies of it, we provide three contemporary case studies that point to the complexity of human-animal interaction and the socioecological circumstances involved in disease. We argue that adopting a One Health framework, which is based on...
Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 2020
In the past, rural Sundanese people's interactions with wild animals, including nonhuman primates... more In the past, rural Sundanese people's interactions with wild animals, including nonhuman primates (hereafter 'primates'), is influenced by traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with foundations in various myths and beliefs. Today, because of environmental changes, development of a market economy, cultural change, and the enhancement of agricultural technology, the beliefs and practices associated with TEK have eroded. We aim to describe the present perceptions of primates by the Sundanese people of Ujungjaya Village, Sumur Subdistrict, Ujung Kulon, Banten Province, and demonstrate how these myths and beliefs manifest in behavior towards primates. We use qualitative methods based on an ethnobiological approach to gain insight into people's perceptions of their natural surroundings. Our results show that the people of Ujungjaya still maintain deep perceptions that are manifested in stories, songs, poems, spells, and invocations that prohibit the killing of primates. However, on their own, these manifestations are insufficient to protect primates from harm as the penetration of market economies and the fragmentation of habitats create the conditions for increased human-primate conflict. Indeed, the people of Ujungjaya sometimes hunt and capture primates for consumption, trading, and medicinal use. As such, laws and regulations designed to promote conservation are insufficient without an understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic aspects of people's lives.
The International Encyclopedia of Primatology, 2017
Diversity, 2021
Cross River gorillas are the least numerous of the African ape taxa. Since their rediscovery, sev... more Cross River gorillas are the least numerous of the African ape taxa. Since their rediscovery, several organisations have sought to conserve these critically endangered apes, resulting in a “crisis conservation narrative” focused on the threats posed by local human activities. However, landscapes are not just ecological, they are also social, shaped by political and economic processes. This study examines the interconnections between humans and gorillas by approaching the Mone-Oku forest as a combination of ecological, social, and political systems. Through a combined use of botanical surveys, analyses of nesting sites, participant observation, and semistructured interviews, we obtained nuanced ecological and ethnographic insights into the human–gorilla interface. The results illustrate a history of alterations within the Mone-Oku forest, some of which are human-induced. These alterations have had both positive and negative outcomes for the gorillas and continue to the present day, w...
Primate Research and Conservation in the Anthropocene, 2019
Primate Research and Conservation in the Anthropocene, 2019
Dorothy Attneave Kimberly Bohannon Brett Campbell Hung Yun Chu Daniel Cullen Scott Dakof Kurt Dol... more Dorothy Attneave Kimberly Bohannon Brett Campbell Hung Yun Chu Daniel Cullen Scott Dakof Kurt Doles Michelle Hakanson Hannah Leah Hall Kumi Hatano Diana Hays Mitsutoshi Inaba David Kosmatka Leif Laaksonen Stephen Lane Mark Levy Nicholas Malone Penny Moblo Chris More Nani Murtaqi Qehn Katie Sloan Matthew Svoboda Murtaqi Syamsuddin Catherine Vandertuin Jamie Webster Joe Weinstein Lili Weldon Frank Williams
Folia Primatologica, 2021
Optimal diet and functional response models are used to understand the evolution of primate forag... more Optimal diet and functional response models are used to understand the evolution of primate foraging strategies. The predictions of these models can be tested by examining the geographic and seasonal variation in dietary diversity. Dietary diversity is a useful tool that allows dietary comparisons across differing sampling locations and time periods. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are considered primarily frugivorous and consume fruits, leaves, insects, vertebrates, terrestrial herbaceous vegetation, and flowers. Frugivores, like bonobos, are valuable for examining dietary diversity and testing foraging models because they eat a variety of species and are subject to seasonal shifts in fruit availability. Frugivorous primate species thus allow for tests of how variation in dietary diversity is correlated with variation in ecological factors. We investigated measures of dietary diversity in bonobos at two research camps across field seasons within the same protected area (N’dele and Iyema) in...
Journal of Mammalogy, 2018
Literature Cited Bourdieux, F. 1960. Trois siècles d'hypothèses sur l'origine et la transformatio... more Literature Cited Bourdieux, F. 1960. Trois siècles d'hypothèses sur l'origine et la transformation des êtres vivants (1550-1859). Revue d'Histoire des Sciences 13:1-44. BuFFon, G. L. 1753. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, avec la description du cabinet du roi, tome IV (« Histoire naturelle des quadrupèdes » I). Imprimerie Royale, Paris.
The American Journal of Bioethics, 2018
Biodiversitas, Journal of Biological Diversity, 2016
Partasasmita R, Shanida SS, Iskandar J, Megantara EN, Husodo T, Malone N. 2016. Human-Leopard Con... more Partasasmita R, Shanida SS, Iskandar J, Megantara EN, Husodo T, Malone N. 2016. Human-Leopard Conflict in Girimukti Village, Sukabumi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 17: 783-790. Populations of leopards continue to decrease over time. This decline is caused by many factors, such as decreasing animal prey and habitat loss. Due to a lack of animal prey, leopards frequently enter villages to find food, including livestock. Therefore, some conflicts between human-leopard have frequently occurred, and in many cases the leopard has been hunted by the villager. Consequently, the abundance of leopard in some areas of West Java have decreased. The aim of this research is to investigate: (i) local knowledge of the Girimukti Village on morphological variation of leopard; (ii) conflict between leopard and the people of Girimukti Village based on local knowledge; (iii) local knowledge on the hunting of leopard; and (iv) utilization of leopard resulting from human-leopard conflict in Girimukti Village,...
The International Encyclopedia of Primatology, 2016
Critique of Anthropology, 2015
Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 2016
Partasasmita R, Iskandar J. Malone N. 2015. Karangwangi people’s (South Cianjur, West Java, Ind... more Partasasmita R, Iskandar J. Malone N. 2015. Karangwangi people’s (South Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia) local knowledge of species, forest utilization and wildlife conservation. Biodiversitas 17: 154-161. In the past, many West Javan Villages had a high diversity of wildlife. Nowadays, however, the diversity of wildlife in these villages has tended to decrease rapidly. This is caused by many factors, including the loss or destruction of wildlife habitat destruction, intensive use of pesticides in the agricultural sector, and illegal hunting. Animal hunting is typically undertaken by villagers for various purposes, such as to fulfill household meet consumption, as well as for the capture and trading of pets. Traditionally, the use of wildlife by the Sundanese people of West Java is influenced by corpus (local knowledge) and cosmos (beliefs). As a result, the wild animals have been utilized within a sustainable system that enables wildlife conservation. Today, however, a lot of tra...
Society & Animals, 2016
Drawing on ethnographic, ethological, and historical data, we examined the relationships between ... more Drawing on ethnographic, ethological, and historical data, we examined the relationships between orangutans and caregivers at Auckland Zoo. Caregivers displayed high levels of empathy and adjusted their husbandry routines to their interpretations of the orangutans’ moods. Caregivers experienced conflicts arising from their efforts to empathize. Although they agreed their husbandry approach improved welfare, they worried their interpretations of orangutan behavior were inaccurate anthropomorphic projections. However, caregivers’ interpretations aligned well with ethological observations and with current knowledge of orangutan behavior. Caregivers’ shared view of great apes as moral persons led to personal conflicts about the ethics of sacrificing individual orangutans’ freedom for the greater good of the species. By exploring caregivers’ personal conflicts, we aimed to inform debates about the politics of empathizing with animals, the role of zoos, and the ethics of keeping great ape...
Organization & Environment, 2008
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Papers by Nicholas Malone