Takeshi Furuichi is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Social Behavior, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. He was awarded a D. Sc. degree from Kyoto University in 1986 for his research on the social behavior of Japanese macaques. He started the study of wild bonobos at Wamba, DR Congo in 1983, and the study of wild chimpanzees in Kalinzu, Uganda in 1996. His main study theme is the life history of animals of the sex which transfer between groups; males in female-philopatric society in Japanese macaques, and females in male-philopatric society of bonobos and chimpanzees. He is also studying about the evolutionary process of social structure of humans and African great apes.

While conducting field studies in Africa for many years, he is also devoting much effort for establishing an academic network involving African research institutions and Kyoto University, and for capacity building of young African researchers and students. With financial support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, he has hosted many symposia and workshops in Japan, DR Congo, Uganda, Guinea, and Ethiopia since 2009. Through such activities he has played a central role in establishing the African Primatological Consortium for Conservation which involves more than 100 researchers/students from 14 African and other countries.

He has also established two NGO’s, “Support for Conservation of Bonobos” and “Kalinzu Forest Project” and makes various contributions for conservation of great apes, environmental education, and development of infrastructure of local communities. He is currently working as a member of executive committee of Section of Great Apes of IUCN Primate Specialist Group.