Jane Goodall Chats About 'Chimpanzee'

What was your initial reaction after seeing "Chimpanzee"? 

ANSWER:

"I was completely amazed, because to have an infant adopted by an alpha male is completely unique. I think it's happened maybe once before, [but] never filmed. To have something so rare happen while a film team is actually there, I mean, it's like a gift from heaven. It's made this film absolutely unforgettable and extraordinary. Very moving."

What would you like the audience to take away from the film?

ANSWER:

"I hope that people will have a little feeling of what it's like to be a chimpanzee deep in the forest. They'll certainly get a feeling for the fact that each chimpanzee has his or her own personality. There are these amazing life stories. There is the drama, the fun, the excitement, the sadness, just as we have in human communities. You see young ones learning by imitating, just as ours do, by trial and error. I hope (audiences) come away realizing these are amazing beings, and that they want to help to protect them, because they are very endangered in the wild."

What has caused chimpanzees to become an endangered species in the wild ?

ANSWER:

"When I began my study in 1960, there was no problem. There was no threat to the chimpanzees and there were way more than a million. From over a million, we now have under 300,000 stretched over 21 countries, and many can't survive into the future. Gradually, as human populations grew, their habitats have been gradually destroyed.

Then the logging companies came in and they opened up some of the great forests. This resulted in roads, and along the roads came the hunters. For the first time you've got commercial hunting of a wild animal for food, very different than the subsistence hunting where you just kill to feed your family. This is for money. No self-respecting hunter would kill a mother with a baby, because that is their future. These hunters will kill mothers with babies and leave orphans."

What needs to be done to help conserve chimpanzee populations?

ANSWER:

"To protect them, we need to save the forest, which will also save the gorillas, and the little bonobos, and the elephants--all the other animals who are being shot. It is very hard work. We need funds, which is why it is so good that Disney Nature is giving The Jane Goodall Institute a percentage of the box-office takings for the first week."

What are some actions people can take on a daily basis to conserve the forest and protect the chimpanzees' habitat?

ANSWER:

"Anybody who joins the Jane Goodall Institute or one of the organizations that is helping to protect the rainforest is helping. Don't buy wood products that are from uncertified tropical timber. Recycle your cell phone, because that has coltan in it and that is mined deep in the Congo forest. Become more aware. It's not just saving chimps; it's saving forests. We now know that the cheapest and most efficient way of slowing down global warming is to conserve, protect and restore the forests, particularly tropical forests. The whole thing ties together for our future. You keep hearing, 'We haven't inherited this planet from our parents, we've borrowed it from our children.' But we haven't. We've stolen it and we're still stealing it, and it's about time we start trying to pay back."

What sets "Chimpanzee" apart from a regular animal documentary?

ANSWER:

"Not only is the little orphan being adopted by an alpha male, but also you have the warring communities, which happens everywhere. In this case, again amazing for the filmers, the leading guy of the other group -- the enemy -- has a scar. It's like Disney sent a make-up artist to create that face. So you immediately know, 'Ah, that's the enemy.'"

It is the 35th anniversary of the Jane Goodall Insititue this year. Does your program have any plans for the landmark?

ANSWER:

"I do lecture tours, like 300 days a year, all over the world. Will there be anything extra special? Not really. There isn't time. I will be talking about it during my normal lectures, but we are always working on bright ideas to raise awareness and this film is going to help. That is what is so great about this movie, because it is more than a documentary. It is an amazing story."

What do you think of people keeping chimps as pets? Is it safe?

ANSWER:

"Absolutely not. Oscar is cute, but Oscar is going to turn into the chimp with the scar. And that is what people don't realize. If you take a chimp as a pet, that chimp is being taken from his or her mother. They are very tiny and that's like taking a human baby away from its mother. There's no difference. To take a chimp into a human home, they never get a chance to learn to be a chimp and they will never be accepted. It's cruel to the chimp, cruel to the chimp's mother and it is cruel to whoever buys it because they are going to get a shock."

For families who see this movie and learn about your career, what advice would you give to a child who wants to work with animals and conservation?

ANSWER:

"Well, of course, I would encourage them to join our Roots and Shoots program for young people, because that is putting them in touch with other young people who want to do that sort of thing. The program is now in 130 countries and every U.S. state.  

I say to the children what my mother said to me: 'If you really want something, you have to work hard. You have to take advantage of opportunity, and you must never give up.'"

Has your knowledge of primate behavior guided your parenting?

ANSWER:

"I think a little bit, because I learned from the chimpanzees that there are good mothers and there are bad mothers. It is a tremendous advantage to a chimp to have a good mother who is protective, but not over-protective, and [who] is affectionate, playful, patient and, above all, supportive. I was so lucky to have that sort of mother myself. I might have raised my child that way anyway, but I certainly thought about the chimps. One thing I did think about as I watched the chimps is, 'I want to have fun with my baby,' just as the chimps do with theirs."

Did you ever think that at any point of your life you would be doing what you are doing now? 

ANSWER:

"Of course not! My dream as a child was that I wanted to go to Africa, live with the animals and write books about them. So I had to save up money working as a waitress and then I finally got out to Kenya. There, I heard about Louis Leakey, went to see him, and he gave me this amazing opportunity to study not just any animal, but the one most like us."

Who is the stuffed animal you often carry with you?