Q & A: Don't monkey with Jane
People all over the country say that their furry (and sometimes not so furry) friends understand how they're feeling and what they're saying. Jane Goodall's When Animals Talk (Animal Planet, June 12, 8 p.m. et) explores those relationships, with insights from the woman who gave us a new understanding of animal language. Jane Goodall began researching chimpanzees in the Gombe region of Tanzania in 1960 when she was just 26, and she stunned the scientific community with observations of a society much more complex than people had imagined. It turns out, for example, that chimps both show affection and make war.
Were the Gombian chimpanzees the first animals you communicated with?
My dog, Rusty, was my first really deep connection with an animal. From childhood I always communicated with animals and loved being around them, but Rusty was very special and was part of the family.
In Gombe, did you have a favorite chimpanzee?
Gremlin is my favorite living chimp, because she's very gentle, very affectionate. She's a wonderful mother.
Was there one that was a real jerk?
Frodo. He bullied the other chimps; he bullied us. He knocked us over. He dragged me by the ankle or the wrist. He was at least 10 times stronger than me. It was just luck I'm still around. When they're doing one of these displays [of machismo] they'll drag a branch down a hill, and he would just use people as his display prop.
That's very different from the image of the friendly, goofy chimp.
Most people know chimpanzees based upon the young chimps they see in zoos and circuses, so people never really got to see chimpanzees except in small cages or on TV or movies doing uncharacteristic things.
You compare animals, and their societies, to our own. Why?
Things we can learn from animal societies give rise to questions regarding our own behavior. Just saying, "This is fascinating" and "How does that apply to humans?" opens new avenues to explore in trying to understand human behavior. An example: It's clear from observing chimps with different [kinds of] mothers that chimpanzees grow up differently. Good mothers give rise to well-adjusted, successful youngsters. We also have found that male and female chimpanzees learn differently. These observations have implications for human society.
Does it annoy you when people say animals can't think?
It doesn't annoy me. I just think if people say animals don't think, then it's up to me to help them understand better because they're missing out. It's hard for me to believe anyone can have a pet that you share your life with and not know the pet has feelings and thoughts. You can see it in how your pet solves problems. Here's an example that was given to me: If you have a wire fence and you put food on one side, and you send a chicken to find the food, the chicken will try to get his head through the fence. If you send a dog, the dog will go around the fence. Different animals can solve problems differently. -Betsy Querna
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