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Many people believe that animals respond to humans and sense their feelings. Now Jane Goodall goes a giant step further, to find out how much they truly understand of our language which is a lot more than people think. If we listen, animals have much to say - they can warn us of disasters and even save us from diseases. This film challenges us to explore a new world, a world where amazing things happen - to respond when animals talk. |
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JANE GOODALL |
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Jane Goodall is the world's foremost authority on chimpanzees, having closely observed their behavior for the past quarter century in the jungles of the Gombe Game Reserve in Africa, living in the chimps' environment and gaining their confidence. Her observations and discoveries are intemationally heralded |
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Her research and writing have made, and are making, revolutionary inroads into scientific thinking regarding the evolutions of humans. |
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Dr. Goodall received her Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1965. She has been the Scientific Director of the Gombe Stream Research Center since 1967. In 1984, Jane Goodall received the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prizefor "helping millions of people understand the importance of wildlife conservation to life on this planet." Her other awards and international recognitions fill pages. |
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Contributions to primatology |
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One of Goodall's major contributions to the field of primatology was the discovery of tool making in chimpanzees. She discovered that some chimpanzees alter pieces of grass or twigs and then poke them into termite mounds. The termites would grab onto the blade of grass or twig with their fingers and feet and the chimpanzees would then just pull the grass out and eat the termites. Though many animals had been observed using "tools", previously, only humans were thought to make tools, and tool-making was considered the defining difference between humans and other animals. This discovery convinced several scientists to reconsider their definition of being human. |
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Another characteristic of the chimpanzee that Jane Goodall discovered was their cooperative hunting of red colobus monkeys. Goodall also set herself apart from the traditional conventions of the time in her study of primates by naming the animals she studied, instead of assigning each a number. This numbering was a nearly universal practice at the time, and thought to be important in the removal of one's self from the potential for emotional attachment to the subject being studied. |
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Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots
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In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. With 19 offices around the world, the Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa and a global youth program, Roots & Shoots, which currently has over 8,000 groups in 96 countries. |
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Today, Dr Goodall devotes virtually all of her time to advocating on behalf
of chimpanzees and the environment, traveling nearly 300 days a year.
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The Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation, a tax-exempt/non-profit, was founded in California in 1977 by Jane Goodall and Genevieve, Princess di San Faustino. Initially, day-to-day operation of the Institute was handled by board members and other volunteers working out of their homes. In the early 1980s JGI moved to the San Francisco offices of the California Academy of Sciences, where it functioned essentially as a USA/Africa "communication link" and as a repository for files |
Click on these links to learn more
www.janegoodall.org
www.pooch.org
www.sheldrake.org/nkisi
http:\\dogsinthenews.com/issues/0109/articles/010915a.htm
www.acs.appstate.edu/~kms/classes/psy3202/RatsLandMines.htm
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