Carmel (California) Jane Goodall turned 90 on April 3, and the primatologist and activist seems busier than ever. This year she will be on tour for 320 days to raise money for her non-profits, the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots. But Goodall still finds time to have fun greeting 90 dogs on a beach. The event, organized by the Wildlife Conservation Network, was attended by Great Danes, Goldendoodles, Chihuahuas and other dog breeds that crossed the sand in honor of the doctor, who admits they are her favorite animals (although she best known for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania). When she arrived, it started to rain.
What do you think about what just happened? I confess I had never heard of a dog greeting.
— It wasn’t planned. In fact, nothing has turned out as the organizers had planned. The idea was for the dogs to walk past me and for us to take a picture. But it has started to rain and it has been much better. I don’t think anything like it has ever been done.
Is it special?
– It is great. This world tour is my 90th birthday and there are events everywhere. We have 25 Jane Goodall Institutes in different countries and they all do fundraising events and auctions for my 90th birthday. This was the only event I really looked forward to. And it went as well as I could have imagined.
How do you think a greeting from 90 chimpanzees would have been?
– Disaster. I wouldn’t have come.
The world knows her for her chimpanzee research, but let’s talk about dogs, especially her childhood dog, Rusty. When she arrived in Africa, what was her relationship with the pet that helped her understand primates?
— I was attached to Cambridge and I was very nervous because at first I was told that I was doing everything wrong; that chimpanzees should not be given a name, but numbered; that you cannot talk about their personalities or say that they have a brain capable of solving problems. And they certainly cannot be said to have emotions. You cannot be scientifically objective if you empathize with your subject. Well, I knew that last one was wrong. When I was little, my dog Rusty taught me that those ideas were beasts.
How did Rusty prove to him that the old conceptions about animals were wrong?
— Probably any dog would have taught me. We all know that they can be happy, sad, scared and that they are very smart. Rusty…I’ve never met a dog like him. It wasn’t even ours, but from a roadside hotel. He would come home, bark from outside around six in the morning and stay with us all morning. Then he would go home for lunch, but he always came back. Around ten o’clock at night he left again. The people at the hotel knew it and didn’t care. It was like it was sent to me.
How does being an icon make her feel?
— One day I was walking through the Santa Fe market. I was approached by a couple and the woman said something that no one has said to me since, thank God. He said to me “Is it Jane Goodall?”. I said yes. She said to me “Can I touch her?”. Imagine. I said “Well, we could shake hands.” It was the media that created an icon and the only way I could deal with it – and it took me a while to figure this out – was to think there were two Janes. The one you saw on the beach with the dogs and the icon. It’s hard for me to keep up with the second one. At first I wore sunglasses and let my hair down, but they recognized me. Then I realized that I had to use it for what I wanted to do.
Did he become an activist to seize his image and use it for the benefit of the world?
– Something like that. At first the media was not very kind. When my first information about Gombe Park came out, there were scientists who said “Why should we believe him, if he didn’t go to university? She’s just a girl.” I never wanted to be a scientist. The fact is that the articles began to say “Jane Goodall is only recognized because she is on the cover of National Geographic, and he only goes out there because he has good legs.” I just wanted to get back with the chimpanzees and continue learning about them. So, if it was for my legs, thanks, legs. One of the few people who has criticized me recently is Elon Musk because I say that we need to think about human population growth if we want to protect the planet for future generations. I invented the concept of “Voluntary Population Optimization”. Is this objectionable if I say it is voluntary and an optimization?
There are concerns, however, at the other end of the spectrum, that fear of human overpopulation will lead to population control.
— Control should never be used, it is incorrect. You can’t control people, they have to be willing. Now, around Gombe we introduced the Tacare program to help people find ways to live without destroying the environment. The program includes restoring fertility to overused farmland without chemicals, and then we introduced scholarships to give girls a chance at secondary education, as well as family planning.
I’m curious about his birthday world tour. I think I wouldn’t have the necessary energy, and you’ve been traveling a lot for decades.
— At your age, I wouldn’t have had the energy either. When you get to 90 you don’t know when it’s all going to end, but you’re obviously closer than when you were 70 and much closer than when you were 60. But if you think you have a mission to try to make more people understand that we must act and that our individual action will make a difference, much of the world has not gotten that message and instead of slowing down, what can I do but speed up?
— Copyright The New York Times
Darren Incorvaia interviewed Goodall in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, after the puppy-filled beach gathering in her honor.
2024-04-14 11:10:51
#likes #dogs #talks #scientists #looked #woman #young
