The greater honeyguide, Indicator indicator.

Mutualism has been important in the lives and livelihood of humans for a long time. Historically, much of agriculture has depended upon mutualistic associations between species and much of agricultural management has been aimed at enhancing mutualisms, such as nitrogen fixation, mycorrhizae, and pollination to improve crop production. Agriculture itself has been viewed as a mutualistic relationship between humans and crop and livestock species. However, there may be some qualitative differences between agriculture as it has been generally practiced and mutualisms among other species. How much of agriculture is pure exploitation and how much is truly mutualistic remains an open question. Here we discuss how understanding the ecology of mutualisms can help us understand some human behaviours.  There is, however, at least one human mutualism that fits comfortably in chapter 15, a mutualism involving communication between humans and a wild species with clear benefit to both. This mutualism joins the traditional honey gatherers of Africa with the greater honeyguide, Indicator indicator (fig. 15.29). Honey gathering has long been an important aspect of African cultures, important enough that there are scenes of honey gathering in rock art painted over 20,000 years ago (Isack and Reyer 1989). No one knows how long humans have gathered honey in Africa, but it is difficult to imagine the earliest hominids resisting such sweet temptation. Whenever honey gathering began, humans have apparently had a capable and energetic partner in their searches.