Ms Darcy's All Creatures Great and Small

‘The Voice of the Animals: Dame Jane Goodall’

On March 12, 2020 by msdarcyonline

Jane Goodall once said, there are not only human beings on this planet, there are also animal beings, and we must let their voices be heard. Their voices mean something.

Dame Jane Goodall, DBE Ph.D., and Director of The Jane Goodall Institute, a global wildlife and conservation organization, is an ethologist and anthropologist by training. She says:

“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.”

“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”

Jane Goodall lived and studied wild chimpanzees at the Gombe Reserve in Tanzania, Africa for forty-five years. She is famously called “the woman who redefined man.” She established herself within the groups of chimps by sitting in the chimp’s feeding area, in trees, eating their foods and imitating their behaviors, until she gained their trust and was tolerated by them. It took two years for the chimps to show no fear and go to her for food.

Goodall’s pioneering discoveries of chimpanzee behaviour include: their eating and hunting for meat (it was long believed they were vegetarian); complex social behaviours, similar to those of humans; making and using of tools for eating; use of stones as weapons; use of touch to embrace and nurture each other; development of long-term family bonds; their ¨caste¨ system to place males at the top; and their communication system which includes the more than twenty individual sounds.

Dame Goodall is highly respected in scientific circles and the media. She has made a great impact on Africa and educated people about the ethical treatment of animals and their endangered habitat. She has published books, about non-human animals, in which she has stressed her position regarding animals:

“The more we learn of the true nature of nonhuman animals, especially those with complex brains and corresponding complex social behaviour, the more ethical concerns are raised regarding their use in the service of man–whether this be in entertainment, as ‘pets,’ for food, in research laboratories or any of the other uses to which we subject them.

Jane Goodall has focused her energy on the ethical treatment of wild chimps and their use in scientific research. She stresses the need for scientists to find alternatives to the use of animals in research . She has long promoted the need for African countries to develop nature friendly tourism programs which would make wildlife a profitable resource, and she works actively with businesses and local governments to achieve this goal. She works on behalf of captive chimps all around the world, saying that ¨the concern is sharpened when the usage in question leads to intense physical or mental suffering–as is so often true with regard to vivisection.”

In recognition of her work, she is a U.N. Messenger of Peace since 2002. Her non-profit organization, The Jane Goodall Institute, is working to protect chimpanzees and inspiring people to preserve wildlife and nature, which will in turn improve the lives of people, animals and the environment. Her organization states: