The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[Andrew Hund <axh69 AT po.cwru.edu>]

04 April 2003
By Richard Marranca, E/The Environmental Magazine

Primatologist Jane Goodall needs little introduction, because her work with 
chimps in Tanzania is known throughout the world. Fifty years of intimate 
contact with these close human relatives gives her authority to speak on 
everything from their value systems to their ability to make music. 
Goodall's most recent book, written with Marc Bekoff, is The Ten Trusts 
(Harper San Francisco).

E: How do chimps communicate? And do they have a value system that could be 
defined as morality or spirituality?

Jane Goodall: Chimps have a repertoire of at least 30 sounds that mean 
different things and show emotions. It's not like human language, but these 
calls help the chimps understand what's going on. Chimps can display fear 
or pleasure, but they can't show complex language about things that aren't 
present — as in expressing the idea that there's a poacher two miles away. 
Chimps are capable of American sign language and use it in the right 
context. They can learn a few hundred signs. They have gestures and 
postures, which are non-verbal communication. You can watch chimps 
interacting and be pretty sure about what they're thinking. When they kiss, 
hold hands or pat each other on the back, it means more or less the same 
thing as when humans do it.

I've seen much evidence of their morality. To give one example: a male 
might break up a fight. Some of them watch sunsets — that's a spiritual 
mind at work. They can also show altruism.

Do chimps make music?

Out in nature, they drum on tree trunks. They also exhibit a dance-like 
swaying from foot to foot. It's just lovely to see. Captive chimps love to 
paint. Their paintings clearly mean something to them. One of my favorites 
was when a female drew zigzags. Asked what it was, she said, "ball." It was 
based on a bouncing game.

In your lectures, you mention that chimps have a dual or complex nature.

Like humans, chimps have two natures. Sometimes they are pleasant and quiet 
and sometimes they are aggressive and get into fights. They can be 
dangerous. Chimps, like people, also have unique personalities.

They have many similarities to humans, including their immune systems. 
They're more like us than they are like gorillas. They have helped us 
bridge the gap between humans and the animal kingdom. Chimps share 
something like 98.6 percent of our DNA.

Shouldn't that make humans more compassionate toward chimps?

Oh, yes, it should. But it doesn't always work that way. There were two 
million chimps a hundred years ago, and now there's 150,000. They are 
scattered and live in small communities. Their habitat is vanishing; 
there's the bush meat trade. [See related stories, below.]

From your books and talks, I get the feeling that you're a vegetarian.

I became a vegetarian after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation. I 
looked at the meat in my dish and I saw fear, pain, death. Family farms are 
more humane, but most of that world is gone. Now there are factory farms 
where animals are treated horribly. Meat eating is bad for our health, bad 
for the environment. Chimps, by the way, aren't vegetarian; that tells you 
something about our origins. But we have a choice in our diet, and a 
realization that everything is part of the web of life.


Related sites:
·       ·       Jane Goodall Institute
·       ·       The Bushmeat Crisis is Emptying Africa's Forests
Source: E/The Environmental Magazine
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-04-04/s_3524.asp