The passionate 35 year old that led to the discovery might very well lay the foundation to all future primate studies. All these, were a result of her patience and perseverance learnt as a young girl where she spent her days studying local birds and other creatures. Having no sort of academic training, she yielded a fresh new perspective for the famed anthropologist Louis Leakey, who chose her for this pioneering study as she was“with a mind uncluttered and unbiased by theory”, a point acknowledged by Goodall herself.
Born in the 1960s in London, Goodall was an unlikely scientific pioneer, having grown up in a time when women were expected to be wives and little else. However, her two burning passions: a love for animals and a love for Africa brought her to the shores of East Africa. Although it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of the African forest, going meant the fulfillment of her childhood dream of living like Tarzan and writing about the animals with whom she lived. Goodall has since travelled far distances and experienced many things no woman ever has. Her insightful experience is a hope and a success story to all women around the world. As she says, “At the end of the day, you still have to be hopeful.”
By Russell Peter Jackson
Dear Diary,
It has been quite awhile since I last wrote an entry here, due to the busy researches I have been conducting on the Chimpanzees. My life was changed completely when Louis Leakey told me to study the Chimpanzees.
This has all been a very exciting experience for me and the past two years or so have been an especially exciting one for me. I was finally accepted into the chimpanzee society, which I had been studying on. It was all thanks to Flo, a high ranking female that bonded with me and gradually managed to convince the troop to accept me as the lowest ranking female. It has been a very exciting experience as by far, I am the only human that has ever been accepted into a chimpanzee society. With that privilege, I was able to learn more about them, and have come to realize that every one of them is unique and have different personalities. I have also managed to make a few other important discoveries!
I realized that Chimpanzees are, in fact, omnivores. This was discovered through a not very pleasant experience when I saw David Greybeard eating a baby bushpig. It came as quite a shock for us all as it was originally thought that Chimpanzees are herbivores.
I also made many other discoveries, like how they know how to plot plans (e.g Figan deliberately kidnapped baby Flint in order to get his mother Flo and the rest of the group to follow him), using man-made objects (Mike used kerosene cans to intimidate larger males, and become the alpha male). It was also discovered that the chimpanzees can get AIDS and fall sick like any of us. They are also found to chew on the plant Aspilia to relieve stomach pains or reduce internal parasites.
However, after 22 months, Mike, which never accepted me, became the alpha leader and I was forced to leave. But it’s all part of a process in life, I suppose. Even in the Chinpanzee society, it’s “eat or be eaten” and since I was the lowest ranking, naturally I got removed.
I am not boasting, but after all these successful studies, I am rather proud and happy about the results achieved through the years, and after doing so much for the animals, I hope that more people would come to realized that humans are not the only ones that can feel or have complex thoughts. And in knowing this, hopefully they would sympathize with the chimpanzees more, and rethink about how they are being used and abused now.
I have had an exciting time, and I think I’ll turn in for the night.
Holding on
Cling to the soft and familiar,
while things became different,
as they showed the young and wild.
To the harsh, cold environment.
Hugging her new soft comfort,
while the situation worsens.
A little girl with an intelligent mind,
kicked start to her life long ambition.
Based on the only thing she has,
a heart soaring with determination,
one goal to make a difference.
Exploring the wilderness of the nation.
Believing that she can change the world.
The only one to be in and out,
Cut boundaries across two languages,
there wasn’t any regrets, without a doubt.
Holding on to a part of her,
Memories clear as water.
A whole life spent dedicated,
knowing that their future is protected.
Dear Grub,
Sometimes you may wonder why I devote so much time to research and today, with the opening of the Jane Goodall Institute, I, as your mother, wish to explain.
When I was a child, probably as old as you are right now, my mother gave me a lifelike chimpanzee toy which I named Jubilee. I shared many fond memories with it and it was then I started my love of animals. Needless to say, it still sits on my dresser in our London apartment today. At that same period, I spent hours reading the Tarzan stories, Doctor Doolittle series and the Jungle Book. Childish as I was, I wished with all my heart that I could be the "Jane" for Tarzan.
After I left school at eighteen, I saved and scrimped and finally raised enough money to visit my friend at Kenya who had a farm there. There, I met my mentor Louis, who introduced me the study of apes. He strongly believed that the study of apes could give indications of the behavior of early hominoids and the history of the world. It was him who ignited the flame in my passion for primate study when he sent me for research at the Gombe Stream National Park, where I first interacted with chimpanzees. It then propelled me to study primate behavior and anatomy and I never stopped since then.
You see, I wanted to understand the chimpanzees. I wanted to pierce my childhood dreams together and talk to animals and thereby understand nature and the history of the world, just like how Dr Doolittle did, albeit being impractical. However, in one way or the other, I achieved it. It was not because I had any special powers or talents like Dr Doolittle, but it was because I worked hard for it and cared to help and communicate with the chimpanzees. I then further continued the pursuit of my childhood dreams and today the Institute is opened.
Son, you may not understand this letter at such a tender age, but I wish that you would turn to this letter when you grow up and put yourself in my shoes - that animal right is a passion that I pursued. Nevertheless, I, as your mother, hope that you would pursue yours too.
Mother
