Passing of Prof. Christophe Boesch

The Officers of the IPS join the world of primatology and conservation in mourning the devastating sudden loss of Prof. Christophe Boesch. 

He was the founder of the Taí Chimpanzee Project in the 1970s and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in 2000, as well as the Director of the Primatology department of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology from 1997 to his recent retirement. It is impossible to overstate his impact on our understanding of wild chimpanzees, and his work to protect them.

He radiated passion for chimpanzees, energising all those around him for almost 50-years. At his retirement from the MPI, he told the audience to trust their eyes, not the books, and to never underestimate that chimpanzees always have something new to teach us, even if it is just how to properly cross a fallen tree in the forest. He worked tirelessly to pass on the lessons that the chimpanzees had taught him, and to ensure that these would continue to inspire the important, urgent, and substantial work needed to protect them.

The Officers send their deepest condolences to his family, friends, and many colleagues.