The chimpanzee—man’s closest living relative—is under assault, thanks to poaching and habitat destruction. For 19 years, activist Sheila Siddle and her husband David have made rescuing orphaned and wounded chimps their life’s work through the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage they established on their farm in central Zambia.

The Siddles are now seeking to turn Chimfunshi into a 10,000-acre nature reserve, including a 2,500-acre chimpanzee sanctuary. In support of this effort, Sheila Siddle is touring the United States to talk about her life’s work as documented in her just-published autobiography, “In My Family Tree: A Life with Chimpanzees” (Grove/Atlantic, 2002). Her tour pays a call on the School of Veterinary Medicine May 7.

—S.S.

- SHEILA SIDDLE: Noon Tuesday, May 7, in Room B101, Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3900 Delancey St.