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Nothing Personal
Armageddon laid!
When booty calls ... Affleck scores, Stern bores and Snoop Dogg rolls tape?
By Amy Reiter
[10/27/99]

Column
Feinstein for president! Buchanan for emperor!
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People Feature
Jane Goodall: The hopeful messenger
Like Hawking, Goodall has been elevated to the status of sage, but does knowledge of the wild beast really imply knowledge of the human heart and soul?
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[10/27/99]

Nothing Personal
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[10/26/99]

Brilliant Careers
George Jones
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By Stephanie Zacharek
[10/26/99]

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I hear it constantly. And, of course, there are various responses depending on the situation. One response is that once we're prepared to admit that animals have feelings and suffer, then if we're cruel to them -- for whatever reason -- it's demeaning and degrading to us as human beings. And we should share our compassion among feeling beings.

Also, there are so many people involved with the needs of suffering people, including us. I mean, we're not just worrying about the chimpanzees, we're also working with the local people and trying to improve the quality of their lives. And trying to explain to people -- in Africa at least -- that if the wildlife and the habitat disappears, that will lead to [the place becoming a] desert and then the people will suffer a hundred-fold more than they are already.

Also in "Reason for Hope," in a chapter titled "The Roots of Evil," you tell in great detail of making the unpleasant discovery in the 1970s that the idea of the noble ape was as mythical as that of the noble savage. Chimps, like humans, you found, are capable of some rather ugly behavior -- including intercommunity attacks and even isolated instances of cannibalism. That must have been a tough realization to come to grips with.

It was a nightmare time in my life. The chimps [at Gombe] had become such familiar personalities. They weren't exactly friends, but it was close to that. And to suddenly find that these mostly gentle beings were capable of such horrendous brutality was a shock, a real shock. We accept that humans can be like that even though we don't like it. The sad part was to suddenly realize that the chimpanzees were more like us than I used to think.

Given the press of civilization and urban expansion, will large animals living in the wild become a thing of the past in the next century?

It depends. We have a window of opportunity to make change for the future, which I think we owe our children and grandchildren and their children. I feel terrible when I think of the world into which I was born 65 years ago and how we've damaged it in those 65 years.

If we can't find a way off leveling off human population -- and I think that's happening, I really do -- and if we can't find a way of lessening the overconsumption of the affluent societies -- and, again, I believe as our young people today grow up, that will happen, too -- then the horrifying question is: Do we have enough time or are we headed for disaster? A lot of people think we're headed for disaster and that's why I'm concentrating so much on developing this program for young people. They're the ones who are the hope for the future.

You're referring to the Roots & Shoots program?

Yes, it started in 1991 in Tanzania, came over to America at the end of 1993. In January of 1994 there were 11 registered groups in North America. Now there are well over 1,000 [in 50 countries]. And it's spreading so fast -- because I've finally got staff and a little money behind it and dedicated, enthusiastic teachers. It's suddenly taking off. It's very inspiring.

We just had our second summit for college and university students. And it was just so amazing to see these young people get together to tackle the question: How do we get the message out, to make the world around us a better place for animals, people and the environment? How do we get that message to our communities? And the ideas they came up with and their passion! That's what I see when I travel around like this.

One would assume, given that you and your work are so widely known at this point, that money must just flow into the Jane Goodall Institute.

False. It should. I don't know what we've done wrong. But we are about to start an endowment drive to keep our work going, especially the Africa program, and I'm sure it's going to be successful.

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