Jane Goodall Great Lives from History: 2000–2017
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
JANE GOODALL GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 JANE GOODALL (chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas), and he felt British primatologist and ethnologist that women researchers would be more observant and less threatening than men to the animals they Jane Goodall is best known for her groundbreaking were watching. Leakey even considered Goodall’s work observing chimpanzee behavior in the wild. lack of formal training to be an asset, as it would 6KHKDVPDGHVLJQL¿FDQWFRQWULEXWLRQVWRWKHVWXG\ not interfere with her observations. She agreed to of animal behavior, as well as to causes related to participate and she became, along with Biruté Gal- conservation and animal welfare. dikas who studied orangutans and Dian Fossey who studied mountain gorillas, part of the female contin- Born: April 3, 1934 gency of primatologists, an area that is one of the $UHD V RIVLJQL¿FDQFH Science and technology; few scientific fields with as many women scientists social issues as men. As Goodall set out for Gombe National Park EARLY LIFE in Tanganyika in 1960, it was the beginning of the Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born on April 3, longest field research study of an animal group in LQ /RQGRQ (QJODQG $V D FKLOG VKH VKRZHG history. an interest in the animals on her grandparents’ farm, and her favorite books (The Jungle Book, Dr. Doolit- LIFE’S WORK tle, and the Tarzan stories) featured animals as main Tanganyikan and British authorities were not as enthu- characters. By the time she was ten years old, she was siastic about Goodall’s arrangement as Leakey had already dreaming of Africa, a dream that her mother EHHQ7KH\EHOLHYHGDVLQJOH(XURSHDQZRPDQLQWKH encouraged. bush would be in great danger, and they refused to allow Goodall’s parents divorced when she was twelve her to enter Gombe National Park alone. Goodall’s years old. As a single mother of two daughters, Vanne mother agreed to join her daughter, and Goodall began Morris-Goodall could not afford to send Jane to col- her study in the summer of 1960. lege, and instead she suggested that Jane attend secre- Initially, the chimpanzees were wary of her pres- tarial school. Vanne thought that secretarial skills would ence and would scatter whenever she got too close. enable her daughter to take a job anywhere in the world. 6KHVSHQWKHU¿UVWWKUHHPRQWKVDW*RPEHDOORZLQJWKH After graduating, Jane worked as a waitress, a secre- chimpanzees to become accustomed to her, often watch- WDU\DQGDSURGXFWLRQDVVLVWDQWIRUD¿OPFRPSDQ\EXW ing them through binoculars from a distance. Over time, the dream of Africa was never far from her mind. When she gave many of them names: David Greybeard, Pas- a school friend invited her to visit her family’s farm VLRQ)L¿)ORDQG*ROLDWK in Kenya, the twenty-three-year-old Goodall eagerly In October 1960, Goodall witnessed something accepted. that would challenge the accepted ideas about chimpan- Shortly after arriving in Nairobi in 1957, zees. Through binoculars, she observed a chimpanzee Goodall took a secretarial job and soon set up an she had named David Greybeard pluck a long blade of appointment to meet internationally renowned pale- grass from the ground and stick it into a termite mound. ontologist and anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey. After he left, she ventured to the mound herself; after Goodall asked Leakey about his studies and encoun- sticking a blade of grass in the hole she discovered that ters with animals, and by the end of the meeting, it was covered with termites, common food for chim- Dr. Leakey hired Goodall as his personal secretary. panzees. She had just learned that chimpanzees could He invited her to join him and his wife, Mary, on XVHWRROVDQGWKDWWKH\PRGL¿HGWRROVWRVXLWWKHLUQHHGV a fossil dig at Olduvai Gorge in Tanganyika (now which were things completely unknown to Western sci- Tanzania). ence. Shortly after witnessing David Greybeard use Upon returning to Kenya, Goodall took a job at the blade of grass as a termite scoop, Goodall watched a Nairobi museum, but Dr. Leakey was convinced another chimpanzee strip the leaves off of a branch and she would be the perfect observer for a group of use it in a similar manner. chimpanzees near Lake Tanganyika. He was plan- 'XHWR*RRGDOO¶VODFNRIIRUPDOVFLHQWL¿FWUDLQLQJ ning in-depth field studies of each of the great apes VKHDSSURDFKHGKHUVXEMHFWVLQDQRQVFLHQWL¿FPDQQHU 264 GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 JANE GOODALL :KHQ*RRGDOO¶VUHVHDUFK¿QGLQJVZHUHVFUXWLQL]HG E\ WKH VFLHQWL¿F FRPPXQLW\ DV EHLQJ XQSURIHVVLRQDO and unreliable, Leakey arranged for her to obtain a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior, at Cam- EULGJH8QLYHUVLW\LQ(QJODQG7KHVFKRRODFFHSWHGKHU ¿HOG VWXG\ DQG H[SHULHQFH LQ OLHX RI XQGHUJUDGXDWH degrees, and though Goodall met repeated opposition from her dissertation committee for what they consid- ered her “nonobjective” style, she received her degree in 1965. In the decades since Goodall began her studies in Gombe, she has gained not only respect and legitimacy ZLWKLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRPPXQLW\EXWLFRQLFVWDWXUH3UL- matologists, anthropologists, and graduate students in HWKRORJ\FRQGXFW¿HOGVWXGLHVDWWKHFDPSLQ*RPEH In 1975, however, Zairian rebels (in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) invaded the camp Dr. Jane Goodall, Tournament of Roses Grand and kidnapped four students. They were later released 0DUVKDO(via Wikimedia Commons) unharmed, but the event almost caused the camp to per- manently shut down. Whereas traditional study protocol would have a scien- Goodall has dedicated her life to the study of tist assigning the chimpanzees numbers, Goodall gave chimpanzees, and she now spends less time in the them names. She viewed the chimpanzees in human ¿HOGDQGPRUHWLPHRQWKHOHFWXUHFLUFXLW,QVKH terms and attributed human characteristics and emo- founded the Jane Goodall Institute, headquartered in tions to them. She noted that individual chimpanzees Silver Spring, Maryland, with the aim of providing had different personalities and that chimpanzees had FRQWLQXDOIXQGLQJIRUFKLPSDQ]HH¿HOGUHVHDUFK7KH a humanlike social structure with nurturing mothers, mission statement of the Institute is to educate and playful children, and family bonds. empower individuals to make a difference through *RRGDOO¶V¿QGLQJVDERXWYLROHQWDQGDJJUHVVLYH conservation and environmentalism, thus creating a tendencies in chimpanzees, including cannibalism better environment for all living creatures. This is and territorial wars, were judged more harshly than especially vital to the wild chimpanzee population, her discovery of other humanlike qualities in chim- whose numbers have dropped from 2 million in 1900 panzees. Because humans and primates share 99 per- to less than 300,000 in 2012. It is believed that the cent of the same DNA, some scientists urged Goodall decline is a result of poachers selling chimpanzees to suppress her information, fearing it would justify to zoos, hunters selling meat to African markets, and war and violence in humans as genetically predeter- environmental problems such as pollution, the clear- mined. cutting of forests, and global warming destroying 7KH XQRUWKRGR[ ¿QGLQJV WKDW *RRGDOO UHSRUWHG chimpanzee habitats. IURP*RPEHZHUHFRQWURYHUVLDOLQWKHVFLHQWL¿FFRP- Among the programs sponsored by the Jane Good- munity, but the National Geographic Society found all Institute is Roots & Shoots, which encourages young them interesting enough to fund her studies when people to make positive changes and improve life for Goodall’s initially funding ran out after six months. animals, humans, and the environment. Members com- National Geographic sent photographer Hugo van plete hands-on projects in their communities ranging Lawick to chronicle Goodall’s work; van Lawick from planting trees, picking up garbage at local parks, and Goodall married in 1964. The couple had a son, and supporting local animal shelters. There are more +XJR(ULF/RXLVEXWWKH\GLYRUFHGLQ*RRGDOO WKDQ 5RRWV 6KRRWV JURXSV LQ ¿IW\ FRXQWULHV later married Derek Bryceson, the head of Tanzania’s around the globe. national parks, in 1975; Bryceson died of cancer only $QRWKHU*RRGDOO,QVWLWXWHSURJUDPLV7$&$5( ¿YH\HDUVODWHU (pronounced “take care”), which targets rural African 265 AL GORE GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY: 2000–2017 YLOODJHV DQG SURPRWHV HGXFDWLRQ ,W LV 7$&$5(¶V AL GORE aim to improve health and education, encour- 3ROLWLFLDQHQYLURQPHQWDOLVWDQGZLQQHURI age smart agriculture, and engender respect for the environment. WKH1REHO3HDFH3UL]H Gore, both as politician and activist, underscored the SIGNIFICANCE need for public concern, discussion, and debate on Goodall has received more than twenty-three honor- issues of technology, consumption, and the environ- ary degrees from international universities and has PHQW,QKHZDVDZDUGHGWKH1REHO3HDFH3UL]H received nearly 100 awards or special recognitions IRUKLVZRUNRQJOREDOZDUPLQJ,QKHUHFHLYHGD by organizations such as the National Geographic majority of the popular vote for president of the United Society and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She has been 6WDWHVEXWZDVQRWSHUPLWWHGWRWDNHRI¿FHDIWHUWKH WKHVXEMHFWRIQXPHURXVPRYLHVDQGUHVHDUFK¿OPV U.S. Supreme Court decided against a further recount- including programs for the BBC, PBS, and National ing of damaged ballots in Florida. Geographic. Goodall is the author of several ground- breaking books, many of which have been translated Born: March 31, 1948 into other languages. Among them are My Friends $UHD V RIVLJQL¿FDQFH Government and politics the Wild Chimpanzees (1967), In the Shadow of Man (1971), The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of EARLY LIFE Behavior (1986), and the children’s