There are not enough species of thanks to express my gratitude to the people and other animals that have made this book possible. I am especially indebted to the generosity of the zoo, shelter, veterinary clinic, and sanctuary staff, and veterinarians who answered my questions and occasionally introduced me to their animal coworkers. You are my heroes.
In particular, thank you, Dr. Mel Richardson, fearless champion and companion to nonhumans everywhere; Dr. Hayley Murphy at ZooAtlanta; Pat Derby and Ed Stewart at the Performing Animal Welfare Society Sanctuary; Daniel Quagliozzi at the SFSPCA; Nicole Cottam at the Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic; my crew leaders, fellow volunteers, and the entire staff of the Marine Mammal Center; the beluga caregivers at the Mystic Aquarium; the volunteer staff at the Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo; Ric O’Barry; Dr. Diana Reiss; Dr. Lori Marino; the elephant care staff at the Oakland Zoo; Katherine McCleod; the volunteer docents at the San Francisco Zoo; Dr. E’lise Christensen and her patients; the International Marine Mammal Trainers Association; Dr. Joseph LeDoux; Ruth Samuels; Ann Southcombe; Dr. Donna Haraway; Phoebe Greene Linden and her flock; Barbara Bell and the bonobos at the Milwaukee County Zoo; Mike Mease and the Buffalo Field Campaign; Pam Schaller and the penguins at the California Academy of Sciences; Dr. Nigel Rothfels; Dr. Beatriz Reyes Foster; Gail O’Malley; the entire staff of Franklin Park Zoo’s tropical forest, especially Paul Luther; and dedicated friend and troop member of gorillas everywhere, Jeannine Jackle.
In Thailand, I am deeply grateful to Jodi Thomas, Pi Sarote, Lek Chailert, Dr. Preecha Phuangkum, Richard Lair, Gawn, Paladee, Pi Pong, Pi Som Sak, Silke Preussker, Mattie Illel, Pra Ahjan Harn Panyataro, Ann Tidarat Jitsarook, Jeff Smith, Dr. Pak, Jokia, Rara, Mae Perm, Mosha, Noon Nying, Mae Bua, and Teng Mo. Thank you to the staff at Elephant Nature Park, Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital, the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, the Surin Project, the village of Baan Ta Klang, and the elephants who live there.
In Mexico, I’d like to thank Baja Discovery, the whale-watching guides, pangeros, and the many cooperatives dedicated to protecting the lagoon, the Mayoral family, Marcos Sedano, Lupita Murrillo, Molo, Dr. Toni Frohoff, Nina Katchadourian, and the whales who came out to meet me.
Human physicians, psychotherapists, and counselors to whom I am indebted include Dr. Cynthia Zarling, Catherine Keeling, Dr. Harry Prosen, Dr. Michael Mufson, Dr. Phil Weinstein, Dr. Ralph Nixon, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, Maria Cimino, and Dr. David Jones.
I owe much to the archivists and librarians who granted me access to their materials and pointed me in fruitful directions, including the staff at the Wildlife Conservation Society archives; Barbara Mathe and the hardworking archivists at the American Museum of Natural History; Darrin Lunde at the Smithsonian; the librarians and research staff at the California Academy of Sciences; the archivists at Bethlem Mental Hospital; Hayden Library at MIT; Widener Library at Harvard; and the research assistance of Sharon Price, Matthew Christensen, Brooke LeVasseur, and Stella Smith-Werner.
At MIT, I am deeply grateful for the guidance of Dr. Harriet Ritvo, Dr. Stefan Helmreich, the faculty and staff of the History, Anthropology, and STS program, Karen Gardner, and my fellow graduate students. At Harvard University I would like to thank Dr. David Jones, Dr. Janet Browne, and Dr. Sarah Jansen, as well as all of my students in Dogs and How We Know Them.
For reading various pieces of this book and offering invaluable insight, I thank the Neuwrite Group at Columbia University, Dr. Carl Schoonover, Jon Mooallem, the Headlands Writing Group, Eric Marcus, the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Dr. Etienne Benson, Doug McGray, and Carrie Donovan. For giving me the opportunity to test this material live and in person, thank you to Sina Najafi and Cabinet Magazine, Pop-Up Magazine, the TED Fellows Program, and the Headlands Center for the Arts.
For research support, I am grateful to the History, Anthropology and Science, Technology and Society Program at MIT, the National Science Foundation’s IGERT Program, the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, the John S. Hennessey Fellowship for Environmental Studies, the MIT Presidential Fellowship, Colleen Keegan, and the History of Science Department at Harvard University.
For housing, metaphorical and physical, I thank Regine Basha and Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro; Ann Hamilton, Emmet, and Michael Mercil; Barbara Mathe; Andi Sutton and Colin Wilkins; Ann Hatch; Brittany Sanders and Robert Polidori; and Sharon Maidenberg, Holly Blake, and Brian Karl.
I would be a raving mad animal myself without Cal Peternell, Donna Karlin, Sharon Price, Ann Hamilton, Jill and Phil Weinstein, Rebecca Goodstein, Caitlin Swaim, Samin Nosrat, Nancy Moser, Maria Barrell, Auriga Martin, Quinn Kanaly, Brooke LeVasseur, Stefanie Warren, Catherine and Travis Keeling, Leyla Abou-Samra, Pamela Smith, Dario Robleto, Joanna Ebenstein, Kelly Dobson, Christina Seeley, Floor van de Velde, Emily Weinstein, Maria DeRyke, Aubree Bernier-Clarke, and Travis Burnham. Thank you also to Rigo 23, who taught me to ask forgiveness rather than permission. Amitav Ghosh invited me to his office hours and gave me my life. Kathleen Henderson’s drawings make me a better animal. Thank you. I owe so much to the real Jude and his parents, Melanie and Terry, for loving Oliver so well. I am grateful, always.
Barney Karpfinger lights up the depths like an insightful anglerfish. There isn’t a more generous human in the bestiary. Priscilla Painton, if editors were elephants, you’d be the smartest, strongest one. I’m so grateful to be in your herd. Thank you also to Jonathan Karp, Sydney Tanigawa, and the rest of the book lovers at Simon & Schuster.
Finally, Lynn and Howard Braitman, Rob Moser, and Jake and Alice Braitman: letting me keep a donkey in the house may have had something to do with my career choice. Thank you for this and for everything else. There are no words without you.