Meet the neighbors Animal minds and life in a more-than-human world

Science journalist Keim (The Eye of the Sandpiper) investigates what animals think and feel in this bracing inquiry. Pushing back against the long-held scientific consensus that animals lack consciousness, Keim notes studies indicating that many birds model their nests on others they have seen and practice making them sturdier over time, behavior that suggests conscious decision-making about what materials to use and how to incorporate them. Insights into the emotional lives of animals surprise, as when Keim discusses research showing that garter snakes form "friendships" and that rats are "especially generous" when sharing food with anxious companions. Such revelations should compel humans to reconsider their relationship with the natural world, he argues, discussing how a recent campaign to gain legal personhood for a Bronx Zoo Asian elephant envisions what a more considerate relationship might look like. Research on honeybees that deliberate as a hive and Italian tree frogs that can count looks beyond the usual subjects of animal intelligence studies, and Keim provides fascinating insight into ways humanity might take animal rights more seriously (political parties dedicated to animal rights in Canada and the Netherlands aim to provide creatures with parliamentary representation). The result is a potent complement to Martha C. Nussbaum's Justice for Animals. Illus. (July)

Sage lessons in coexistence among our planet's nonhuman species. Keim, a Maine-based nature and science journalist, wants readers to develop empathy and consideration for our "neighbors" and see them as thinking, feeling beings with whom we share much in common. The author examines the science of animal intelligence and communication, citing scientific journals as well as empirical examples from the everyday world. He supplements descriptions of animal emotion from folk stories and personal accounts with Darwinian proof that this emotion is deeply rooted in evolutionary history. For example, he notes that the sounds of a baby's distress resonate across species. Keim extensively covers the animal rights movement and advocacy groups such as the Nonhuman Rights Project, and he provides an in-depth analysis of the case of the Bronx Zoo's Happy the elephant: Should she have been considered a "person" under the law and treated as such? The author also follows efforts by managers of "domestic tensions with urban wildlife," commonly known as "pest control." Keim presents all of this information with insight and compassion, considering our animal neighbors from not only a legal but also a moral perspective. They include not only charismatic animals on the brink of extinction, but also common creatures encountered in our everyday environments, such as frogs and squirrels. In a characteristic formulation, Keim reflects, "As different as they are from me, they're still someone, living in the first-person." Although his polemic is well supported by scientific and scholarly references, his earnest plea is firmly rooted in a layperson's language; this is a consideration of animals, wild and domestic, as our fellows, not our property. Lanas' delightful pen-and-ink illustrations drive the point home. A comprehensive guide to thinking of animals not as anonymous creatures, but as individuals. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.