Engaging Holism: Exploring Multispecies Approaches in Ethnoprimatology

Studying the human–alloprimate interface requires researchers to simultaneously examine multiple axes in the lives of organisms across zones of interaction. Such a multiscalar interface creates challenges for ethnoprimatological researchers who must situate their work within ecological, social, or anthropological paradigms. We argue that more explicit incorporation of multispecies ethnography and attention to the distinct practices of Japanese primatology help to realize and promote the potential of ethnoprimatology among a broader peer group of primatologists. Despite the utility of multispecies ethnography, the challenge is not in making multispecies theory applicable to our studies; it is in operationalizing it and making it more accessible by reframing how we view human–alloprimate entanglements. Current examinations of human–alloprimate inter -actions are limited in their ability to bring to bear the relational histories and futures of organisms in shared landscapes. Inter -actions draw attention to momentary encounters rather than to the extended entanglements and holistic properties that emerge from intra -actions within a multispecies assemblage. Using primate hunting in the Central African Republic as a locus of intra -action, we advocate for the expanded promise and future of an ethnoprimatology that can better address human–alloprimate entanglements, improve conservation efforts, and further anthropology’s growing attention to more than human worlds. This is a future that draws heavily from the complexity of the ethnographic moment to more broadly examine the nuanced, intersubjective relationships among those present at the human–alloprimate interface.