The Chimpanzee Whisperer

A Life of Love and Loss, Compassion and Conservation

By: Stany Nyandwi, David Blissett - contributor, Dr. Jane Goodall DBE - foreword

Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu, Dion Graham

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner from Audiofile Magazine!

"Narrator Dion Graham so inhabits the memoir that listeners easily could swear he's the author. He adopts an accent that to Western ears sounds authentic without affectation or loss of understanding. A truly marvelous pairing." —Audiofile Magazine

A moving, heartwarming memoir about a conservation hero and real-life chimpanzee whisperer—now the subject of the award-winning documentary film Pant Hoot.

Stany Nyandwi’s gift for communicating with chimpanzees is so special that world-renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall has called him a “chimpanzee whisperer.” His skills and devotion to these creatures—our closest living relatives, with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA—have earned him international awards and sent him on travels within Africa and around the world. But he began life in poverty, born and raised in a dirt-floor, straw-roofed hut in rural Burundi. The Chimpanzee Whisperer is the story of his astonishing life journey.

It is also an African story. Receiving only an elementary education before he quit school, he suffered injustice and tragic loss because of his ethnic group. He began caring for orphaned and rescued chimps in Burundi. When the country descended into civil war and genocide, he was forced to flee with the chimps and endured long separation from his family. Continuing to work with and learn about chimpanzees in Kenya, Uganda, and later South Africa, he made himself into an incomparable authority.

His memoir has adventure, danger, and many unique and touching stories about chimpanzees that show his bond with and understanding of them. As told to award-winning author David Blissett, it reveals a remarkable man who has refused to let circumstances defeat him. Conditioned by hate, wounded by loss, he has lived for love, faith, and compassion, giving new life, as Dr. Jane Goodall writes in her foreword, “to so many chimpanzees whose families, like his own, were torn apart by violence.”

©2022 Stany Nyandwi,David Blissett (P)2022 Spotify Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“It was clear from the start that he had a real gift for working with these creatures. . . . He was able to communicate with them in a special way to the point that we called him a ‘chimpanzee whisperer.’ . . . I hope you will be inspired by this life story of a gentle, unassuming African man whose devotion and sacrifice has given new life to so many chimpanzees whose families, like his own, were torn apart by violence.”—Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, from her foreword

“Stany’s harrowing story is about survival and trust—his trust of fellow human beings, who sometimes failed him, and his love for his friends the chimps and their love for him, which allowed him to survive when humans faltered. Most of all it is about the unconditional love we must all have for each other, for the animals and for our planet. David Blissett has beautifully told Stany’s story. Please read and enjoy.”—Bernie Caulfield, Emmy-winning producer of Game of Thrones

“Ever since meeting Stany Nyandwi in Uganda, I have been fascinated by how well he understands chimpanzees, and how calm they are in his presence. This comes through clearly in his truly inspiring and gripping memoir, which also tells an important story about the ethnic conflict in his country of Burundi and how he overcame significant challenges as a refugee.”—Glady Kalema-Zikusoka, wildlife veterinarian, founder of Conservation Through Public Health, and author of Walking with Gorillas

hands down the best book this year

Such important work and stories that will make you smile and become very sad..and then smile again.

The behavior of the chimps

Liked all of it especially the description and activities of the chimps. 3 more words.

Title of the book is not relective of its content

I have every sincerest sympathy and respect for the author's life challenges. it is not likely that HE chose the title for this book, given his geographical circumstances