Jane Goodall has spent half a century watching chimpanzees. Here's how she changed our connection to the animal kingdom...
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00What the chimpanzees helped me to do was to persuade science back in the early 60s that
00:11there wasn't, after all, a major gap between us and all the other animals.
00:18The first time I saw David Greybeard using and making tools to fish for termites was
00:27the turning point in my career.
00:42I suppose the main thing that we take away from being with chimpanzees for so long is
00:49just how like us they are.
00:52Their non-verbal communication is the same as ours really, kissing, embracing, holding
00:57hands, patting one another, competing for dominance, swaggering, looking like a lot
01:03of male politicians I know, humans, and long-term relationships between mothers and their offspring.
01:12The fact that like us they can be violent and even engage in a sort of primitive warfare,
01:18they can kill each other, but at the same time, just like us, they can be loving, kind,
01:23and truly altruistic.
01:25So because they're so like us biologically, our closest living relatives, and because
01:30my husband's film showed chimpanzees using tools and behaving in the way that I'd said,
01:39scientists had to finally agree that we are part of and not separated from the rest of
01:45the animal kingdom.
01:56The old golden rule which applies to every single major religion, do to others as you
02:01would have them do to you.
02:02So once you realize that an animal feels pain, is an individual, then you should know how
02:11you should treat them, and then you can learn about them.
02:15There's an awful lot of information out there now.
02:18That's an answer that depends on what sort of animal you're talking about, what country
02:22it's in.
02:23Right now, there are estimated 7.8 billion people on the planet, and I can't remember
02:30the billions of their livestock, cows, pigs, poultry, and so on.
02:35And already, as I've said, we're using up natural resources so fast in some places.
02:41In 2050, there's an estimated closer to 10 billion of us.
02:47So if we carry on with business as usual, if we don't find a way of lessening our impact
02:53on the natural world, what will that world be like with 10 billion of us?
03:00It won't be livable, will it?
03:02It will really change all life on the planet and probably cause most species to become
03:10extinct, including us, because we are part of this natural world.
03:16We can't live without it.
03:17We depend on it for food, for water, for clothing, for clean air, clean water.
03:24If we're using up nature faster than nature can replenish herself, the time will come
03:30when there's nothing left.
03:32And so we need to find a balance.