‘I speak for the trees’: Could this monkey be Dr Seuss’s Lorax?

Nature News

Image: Eric Kilby

Near the town of Nanyuki
No Grickle-grass grows
And the wind smells fast and sweet when it blows.
Nevertheless some scholars propose
That this is the home of the Lorax.

Of the dozens of children’s books Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote under his pen name — Dr Seuss — The Lorax was reportedly his favourite. Published in 1971, it tells the story of deforestation and environmental destruction by the Once-ler and his family, despite the protestations of “sort of a man” — the curious Lorax.

Most readers have assumed that the Lorax was a character born in Geisel’s extraordinary mind. But a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on 23 July suggests that Geisel was inspired by a monkey that lives across West and East Africa. Read more on the Nature News website…