John Mitani can still remember the first time he set foot in Uganda’s Kibale national park. The old-growth(原始生长的) east African rainforest enveloped(包裹，笼罩) him, its canopy(树冠层) stretching to heights of 40 metres. Fruit trees bowed under the weight of African star apples and bountiful(丰盛的，大量的) Ficus mucuso figs. And then there were the chimpanzees. Furry black blobs darted through the jungle, their raucous(刺耳的，喧闹的) calls often deafening.
约翰·三谷至今仍记得第一次踏入乌干达基巴莱国家公园的情景。那片东非原始雨林将他整个包裹起来，树冠层高达四十米。果树被非洲星苹果和果实累累的穆库索榕压弯了枝头。然后就是黑猩猩。毛茸茸的黑色身影在丛林中穿梭，它们刺耳的叫声常常震耳欲聋。
It was the summer of 1995, and Mitani, a primatologist(灵长类学家) from northern California, had just come from working with the chimps living in the Mahale mountains of Tanzania. At the time, Mahale was home to(是……的家园/栖息地) the largest known population of chimps, with about 100 individuals. But there were rumours that this section of Kibale – only accessible via a 12-hour drive from the capital, Kampala – might host an even more unusual abundance of apes.(但有传言说，基巴莱的这一区域——从首都坎帕拉驱车前往需十二小时——可能栖息着数量更为惊人的猿类。)
那是1995年夏天，来自北加州的灵长类学家三谷刚刚结束在坦桑尼亚马哈莱山区研究黑猩猩的工作。当时，马哈莱拥有已知最大的黑猩猩种群，约一百只。但有传言说，基巴莱的这一区域——从首都坎帕拉驱车前往需十二小时——可能栖息着数量更为惊人的猿类。
“It only took a few days to realise that something weird(奇怪的，反常的) was going on(发生，进行) at this place,” Mitani, now 72, recalls. “There were chimps everywhere.”
“没过几天我就意识到，这地方有点不对劲，”现年72岁的三谷回忆道，“到处都是黑猩猩。”