In My Family Tree: A Life with Chimpanzees

By Sheila Siddle and Doug Cress

Book Overview

Sheila Siddle's life was changed forever one fateful day in 1983 when a local game ranger brought a battered, malnourished chimpanzee to the door of her cattle ranch in central Zambia and asked her to do whatever she could to save it. As Sheila and her husband nursed it back to health, they treated the young chimp they would name Pal as if he were a human infant -- feeding him medicine and bottled milk, sharing their bed with him at night, and carrying him on their backs until he regained the strength to survive on his own. From these humble beginnings Sheila and David Siddle would go on to launch the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, an internationally acclaimed animal refuge that has grown to become the home for more than eighty chimps, one disarmingly domesticated hippopotamus named Billy, and a variety of other endangered animals. In My Family Tree is the inspiring journey of a woman who has dedicated her life to providing a refuge for chimpanzees in Africa -- and of the chimps that have become a part of her family along the way.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802140106
• ISBN13: 9780802140104
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Heart-Warming, Inspiring, and Compassionate

Sheila Siddle and her husband, David, are an amazing couple. They show that life is not over when you are at a "retirement" age. They created a whole chimpanzee sanctuary at such an age. Love, compassion, determination, and strong opinions of what is right and wrong all allowed the Siddles to reach out to animals in desperate need. In doing this, they also touch everyone with whom they come in to contact. Mrs. Siddle's book allows them to touch a great deal more of us. Thank you for all of your efforts and for this great book Mrs. Siddle!!

A Must Read

In this beautiful memoir, Sheila Siddle takes readers on magical journey--to Chimfunshi, a wildlife sanctuary Sheila and Dave Siddle founded in Zambia in 1983. Siddle's honest account of their work on behalf of chimpanzees will make you laugh out loud at the wonder and joy of working with wildlife. Siddle's prose also brings the battle for chimpanzees, which is far from won, into vivid and tragic relief. Filled with both humor and profound courage, this book is an inspiring must read for anyone who loves chimpanzees and all wildlife. You can learn more about Chimfunshi at [the website]