Jane Goodall is famous for her work with chimpanzees.
Here, Kenji interviews her about her life and work.
Dr.Goodall,thank you so much for taking time for this interview.
I know thet you spent many years studying chimpanzees in Africa.
When did you first decide to go to Africa?
It was after I had read the Doctor Dolittle the Tarzan books.
When I was 11,I knew that somehow I would go to Africa
to live with animals,study them,and write books about them.
I'm sure there are lots of young people
who want to work with animals someday.
How can they prepare themselves?
There are a lot of things you can do
in order to understand animals.
It is very important
that you watch them and observe their behavior.
It is also impotant that you write notes and ask questions.
If you are really determined,you will find a way.
You did a lot of fieldwork,observing chimpanzees in the wild.
Are they in any way like human beings?
Chimapanzees and humans have a lot in common.
We know today that the DNA of humans and chimps differs
by just a little over one percent.
Their brains are very much like ours
and much of their behavior is like ours.
Like us,they also have much to learn in thier childhood.
The members of chimp family are very close,
often helping one another.
They can feel sad, happy, afraid,and angry.
What about their character-I mean,are they friendly?
Are they cruel?
They are usually friendly with each other,
but they can be cruel, just like humans.
Really?
The males patrol their territories,
sometimes attaking chimps from another community.
But they can be very king and loving too.
Once, when he was about three years old,
a chimp called Mel lost his mother and was left alone.
We all thought he 'd die.
But, to our surprise,
a 12year-old male chimp called Spindle took care of him.
In what way?
He let Mel ride on his back and share his nest at night.
I often saw him shareing his food if Mel asked for it.
Chimpanzees can indeed be loving and careing.
Now let's turn to the topic of the environment.
You travel all over the world,
giving talks about the conservation of nature.
Do you have any comment?
Yes,we humans must understand that
wild animals have the right to live.
They need wild place.
Besides, for our own good,
there are some kinds of living things that we must not destroy.
Many drugs for numan diseases come from plants and insects.
When we destroy a wild area, maybe we are destroying
the cure for cancer and other diseases without knowing it.
I see.
Everything in nature is connected.
Plants and animals make up a whole pattern of life.
If we destroy that pattern, all kinds of things can go wrong.
Could you say more about that?
Sure. One time in England, rabbits were destroying farmers' grain.
The farmers killed the rabbits by giving them a disease.
Then foxes didn't have enough to eat
and they started killing the farmers' chickens.
The farmers then killed the foxes,
and rats quickly increased in number
and destroyed just as much grain as the rabbits had eaten.
We humans are in danger of destroying our environment
and our selves along with it.
So,are you worried about our future?
Yes,I am. But my hope lies in young people.
Once they know about environment problems,
they want to solve them.
That's why I decided to start Roots&Shoots.
What's that?
Well, it began with a group of high school students
in Tanzania in 1991.
It is called Root&Shoots,
because roots can work thier way through rocks to reach water.
And Shoots, though they are tiny,
can break through a wall to reach the sunlight.
The rocks and wall are the problems humans
have caused to our earth.
So it's a kind of club for young people?
That's right.
We now have groups all over the world and each group
chooses three projects: one to help people,
one to help animals, one to help the environment.
The world is a better place when you cause a sad person to smile,
when you make a dog wag its tail,
or when you give water to a thrsty plant.
That's what Root&Shoots is all about.
Some final words?
The most important difference between humans and chimpangees
is that we can speak and share ideas.
Every one of you has a role to play and you can make a difference.
You just one person, but what you do affects the whole world.
And you have a choice: What to buy? What to eat? What to wear?
The changes you meke may be small,
but if a thousand, then a million,
finally a billion people all make those changes,
this is going to make a big change.
Dr.Goodall, thank you very much for your time
and for sharing your ideas with us.
