Envision some visitors who have travelled to Kenya to observe wildlife (Figure 5.1A). They first encounter a pair of baboons mating. The visitor group quickly drives away muttering, perhaps after covering their children’s eyes. Coming upon a ranger or a field scientist, the parents splutter their outrage at such an X-rated sight. A pair of mating lions or elephants is encountered next; cameras roll, and if a tour guide is present he is given an extra tip for such a wonderful sighting. A male baboon kills and feeds on prey, perhaps a gazelle; the visitors recoil, and may even seek a wildlife ranger to complain about the horrible scene that they have witnessed: can’t somebody stop the baboons from doing this terrible thing (see Figure 5.1B)? A lion kills and feeds on prey, perhaps a gazelle, wildebeest or baboon; again cameras roll, and more visitors are attracted to the awesome sight, delighted to have witnessed one of the highlights of anyone’s African safari. These scenarios or slight variations on them occur frequently in African wildlife reserves.

What diverse responses there are to similar behaviour exhibited by three mammal species, each large, group-living and highly social! When and why are humans variously repulsed, nonplussed, or attracted to ostensibly similar events? Why is sexual or predatory behaviour by lions but not by baboons attractive to many people? The answer seems to lie primarily in our obvious similarity to baboons, more similar than to lions and to elephants, and perhaps the consequent embarrassment that comes from watching behaviour that would not be comfortable to watch if it were people performing. This kind of differential response to various species is familiar to conservation biologists, who regularly deal with people’s differential willingness to work for the survival of some species versus others; large, furry, round-faced and large-eyed mammals are particularly appealing. Outside the conservation community, however, relatively little attention is paid to these biased responses.