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The junglekin saw the rainforest as being the centre of all things. They referred to it as the Greater World and remained aloof from the animals of the plains and the rest of the Lesser World with which they had little or no communication.
    Over the next two years Neema spent more and more time with the animals, and the UNESCO scientists were astonished and thrilled at the detailed information with which she was able to provide them.
    ‘It’s almost as if she could talk to these animals,’ one of them said to Ulindaji during one of their scientific discussions. ‘On our own we could never have acquired a fraction of the information she has provided us with.’
    Ulindaji, naturally, imagined that Neema spent her observation periods sitting safely in the hut with a notepad, camera and radio, looking out with a pair of binoculars. In reality, of course, she spent the time roaming free with the bonobos learning everything about the way they lived and becoming skilled at climbing and swinging her way with lianas and creepers along their favourite jungle routes.

4
Bonding with Bonobos
    J ambo was keen that Neema should meet as many of the junglekin as possible, and contrived that many animals made special journeys across the rainforest, sometimes hundreds of miles from their regular haunts, to meet Neema whom she referred to as “the Special One”. In this way Neema met most of the principal rainforest animals: the massive gorillas who journeyed from afar to see her; the common chimpanzees; leopards; red-river hogs; hippos; forest elephants; pygmy buffalos; many different kinds of monkey; the shy and rare okapi; the beautiful bongo; and countless other fascinating animals and birds such as the potto, the pangolin, the golden cat, the bustard and the Congo peafowl.
    Neema was fascinated by the interaction between the pygmy chimpanzees – the bonobos – and their larger cousins, the common chimpanzees. The latter were larger and heavier than the bonobos, and much more aggressive. Jambo explained that the common chimpanzees lived mostly on the other side of the great river and, as neither species liked swimming very much, they hardly ever met. Neema thought the bonobos seemed a bit frightened of the big chimps, but both groups still felt themselves to be superior to the even larger and coarser gorillas, and all the other creatures of the rainforest.Neema was interested to meet the larger species of chimpanzee but was secretly relieved that it was the bonobos by whom she had been “adopted”. In later years she was to learn that these gentle creatures were the closest genetic relatives to human beings in the animal kingdom, having about 99% of their genetic material in common with Homo sapiens.
    One exciting day Jambo told Neema she was going to see two very special creatures.
    ‘ They live in the densest jungle and swamp,’ she explained, ‘ and are but rarely seen beyond where they dwell. But they have now heard tell of thee through the fledgiquills and the Dreadful Ones and desire to see thee. We must go as near to them as we can, for they never venture far.’ Neema was fascinated and wondered what on earth they were about to see. Jambo and her sons took Neema to the farthest corner of their usual territory and then along tree paths she had never traversed before into the heart of the densest jungle she had ever encountered. Eventually they came to the edge of a swamp and the bonobos moved cautiously along the bank, peering nervously ahead at frequent intervals.
    ‘ Hist!’ said Jambo suddenly, taking Neema’s arm and pointing through the undergrowth. There, rising above the swampside bushes, was an enormous nest. It appeared to be constructed of whitened branches but, as they drew nearer, Neema realised with amazement that it was composed entirely of interwoven elephant tusks. Beyond it, at the edge of the swamp, stood a huge creature the like of which she had never seen before, even in picture books. It was larger