When I think of Jane Goodall, I picture her in a dense forest dappled with sunlight, talking intently with a chimpanzee, or perhaps with one wrapped around her in an affectionate embrace. Made famous for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania, which she has been doing for almost 50 years, Goodall expands on what she%27s learned, and talks about changing technologies, cultures, and the state of the environment.
Many of the abilities that humans have traditionally thought to be exclusively humansuch as using tools, feeling despair, cooperating, sharing, and having a sense of humourcan also be found in many, if not all, apes. They are animals that have a large and complex brain, as we ourselves do. Chimpanzees are actually dependant on their mothers for the first five years of their lives, unlike many other animals, so that they have a chance to learn all of the complex facets of chimpanzee life.
What separates us, then, from the apes? According to Goodall, it seems to be our intricate system of spoken language. Language allows humans to visualize and conceptualize and then share ideas with each other about intangible things, such as what we did yesterday or what we hope to do in twenty years.
But all things are connected, and the environmental problems which are threatening the chimpanzees are also threatening us. It’s not too late, says Goodall, and we must have hope, but the time is now, to do something about it.
Photo from: Futura Sciences
