Due to all of Jane Goodall’s consecutive studies and patience, the world wouldn’t have as much insight into a primate’s life as of today. Early in her life she always had a fascination of animals, especially chimpanzees. She began her journey as a young British woman with determination and ended by traveling to Tanzania, Africa. It was there when she became more in depth with herself and the chimpanzees. Living in the jungles, Goodall documented the everyday lives to our closest relative. She carved the need to conserve the earth into the world with her logical advances and new discoveries. She had touched the hearts of many animal-loving people and received many awards and achievements for her cause. From the early 20th century to current time, Jane Goodall has influenced the world by her engaged dedication to the observations of chimpanzees and through the scientific studies from her books, articles, …show more content…
She took this time to recover from a failed marriage and the death of her late husband. She went back to Africa and was greatly saddened by all the harmful pesticides that people were using all around the world. She used her own healing time to study and actually understand inside of a chimp’s head. Her notes suggest that chimps and humans are very much alike. A human’s brain is more complex and can have a greater mind and thinking way beyond the average primate. She concluded while a human can ask further questions about the past, present, and future; chimps let their instincts come over. This explains why chimpanzees are very territorial and aggressive. Her findings also lead to that humans are forever revolving and chimps are not. Aside from her observations, she also unveiled the importance of the idea of conservation and animals’ rights. Goodall keeps pushing for humans to care for their world, wildlife, and themselves. (Editors)
Next of Kin tells the story of a man’s life and how it was forever changed once he was asked to become an assistant for a research project with chimpanzees. The story spans over several decades of work. It is very emotional and telling. The book allows the reader to have an intimate understanding of how the research was conducted, as well as how the world had viewed and treated chimpanzees at the time which Fouts was involved in the Washoe project.
No matter who you are, you are afraid of something. On the other hand, you also have things that you love and are even awestruck by its presence. Goodall describes her encounter with the bushbuck as an amazing sight while her encounter with the leopard was full of fear.
A Primate’s Memoir, written by Robert Sapolsky, documents the author’s time in Kenya while he studied the various behaviors of a troop of baboons. One of the key aspects of the book was the social rank that developed within the troop. Female baboons have a social hierarchy that is fairly cut and dry. The eldest baboons in the troop are considered the higher-ranking females, and as the baboons get younger, so to follows the string of dominance. The ranking for males was essentially from the strongest baboons to the weakest baboons. The baboon at the top of the social hierarchy was considered the alpha male. This social rank has huge implications for the troop in regards to which baboons mated with each other. If another baboon wanted to become the alpha male, then he would have to challenge the current alpha male to a fight, and win. The baboon’s distinct personality mixed with their instincts are the primary factors for where one lands on the social hierarchy. Another key aspect of the book was the strategies that took place when the baboons wanted to mate with another baboon. Similar to humans, the baboon males tried to impress the female baboons in a way that would make them want to mate. The rank of the male is considered to be one of the greatest factors contributing to what mate they end up with, because there is nothing more impressive than becoming a high-ranking baboon. Also, there were instances of lower-ranking baboons strategizing and forming teams with other baboons to become a higher ranking baboon for the mating possibilities. The baboons in the group are considered a patch-work of different troops, as it is common for one baboon to move to different groups frequently.
Human are the most clever animals in the world. As the society developed, they are more concerned to seek for a harmony relationship with nature. The article “In the Forests of the Gombe” written by Jane Goodall describes the relationship of science and religious and the new understanding of humans through the forest. After Goodall’s husband died, she went through the Gombe jungle and found the new world by observing chimpanzees and staying in the quiet forest. Even though there are no communication between Goodall and chimpanzees in the forest, she still gets inner peace and enlightenment of science and religious.
There are contrasts in tool kits used by different groups of chimpanzees, which seem to be a result of the environment in which they live as well as information that is shared by the group. For example, in 1973 it was reported that chimpanzees in Gombe did not use hammer stones, but those of Cape Palmas did. We will explore the tool use of Chimpanzees from the wild, including Gombe, Tai National Forest, and the Congo Basin---and contrast those with Chimpanzees in captivity in locations of Zoo’s both in the United States and abroad.
Goodall argues that her readers have an ethical obligation to protect animals from suffering, but she also implies that it might be necessary sometimes to abandon that obligation. She points out that animals share similar traits with human beings: they have a capacity for certain human emotions, and they may be capable of legitimate friendship. Goodall’s evidence for this claim is an anecdote from her research. She recounts that one chimpanzee in her study, named David Greybeard, “gently squeezed [her] hand” when she offered him food (62). Appealing to readers’ emotions, Goodall hopes to persuade readers that the chimp is “sociable” and “sentient,” or feeling (62). According to Goodall’s logic, if researchers are careful to avoid tests that cause human suffering, they should also be careful to avoid tests that cause suffering for other life forms.
Do non-human primates have communication, language, both, or neither? By definition, communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information (Snowdon). Communication is very closely related to social behavior since they are both referring to the ways animals interact with each other (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Conversely, language is defined as a system of communication using sounds or gestures that are put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules (Haviland et al. 2010). Non-human primates and human primates are similar in many ways, and communication is no exception. They both have various types of communication senses and styles. Human primate communication senses consist of sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Non-human primates mainly understand the world through sight, but smell, taste, and hearing are important as well (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Human primates are capable of speaking a language, while non-human primates use different vocal calls to communicate. In essence, the difference is simple, human primates have language while non-human primates do not. Even though non-human primates do not have language, they do have communication.
Can one person, one person out of the billions of people on this magnificent planet, really make a difference? There are over seven billion people living on Earth, each with a separate and unique purpose. Jane Goodall, one person out of the seven billion, knew her purpose from a young age, and dedicated her life to accomplishing it. In Reason for Hope, Goodall unearths the connection and compatibility between faith and knowledge, and shares her project with her readers. Jane Goodall was a visionary, and had a project so immense that it must be broken down into three subprojects: the effect of chimps on chimps in Gombe, the relationship between chimps and humans throughout her time in the scientific world, and the human on human connection in our past, present, and future.
In Jane Goodall’s “In the Forests of Gombe,” she travels to the beautiful forests of Gombe to explore chimpanzee. She watches over the chimpanzees that she has been observing for over twenty years. She also travels to Gombe to get away from the sad associations that reminded her about the death of her husband, Derek. During her trip, she experiences an epiphany when she is stuck under a tree in the forest. The epiphany confirmed her view on whether religion and science can coexist. There are two concepts of “windows in Jane Goodall’s “In the Forests of Gombe.” One of which is the scientific window. The scientific window views the world in a very logical and natural way. The other window is the religious window. The religious window views the
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
Chimpanzees portray their emotions through a number of facial expressions and mannerisms. Just like humans, they undergo mood swings, jealous rages, and laughter. For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and backward movement jerk of his head…” Some of their emotions are easy to read, while at other times we have to look at multiple places on their faces to understand their feelings. A chimpanzee also uses its facial expressions and sounds to communicate with each other, such as hoots and yells.
Apes, gibbons, monkeys, tarsiers, lemurs, and lorises make up the diverse and beautiful world of primates. We humans are primates, and there are more 300 species of primates in the world. The smallest primate is the pygmy mouse lemur, which can fit in the palm of your hand. The largest—the gorilla—can weigh more than 400 pounds. Almost every primate species is endangered, and the overhunting and forest devastation has brought some species to within a few dozen heads of final extinction.
Our earliest ancestors are primates. They are our closest relatives which is why we can see our behavior’s and practices in them. If we observe them we can get a better understanding of them and us, human beings. But unfortunately we all don’t get the chance to see a Primate right in our backdoor. So the best thing I could do for my observation was to visit them at the zoo.
Goodall, Jane. 1990. Through a Window: My 30 Years with Chimpanzees of Gombe. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company
In his lecture, primatologist Robert Sapolsky explains the uniqueness of humans as well as our similarities to other primates. In doing so, he broke it down into six points of interest: aggression, theory of mind, the golden rule, empathy, pleasure in anticipation and gratification postponement, and lastly, culture. Professor Sapolsky approaches each point with interesting fact-based examples thus allowing me to gain insight on humans and other primates. Sapolsky’s knowledge of primates along with his scientific background allows him to make a clear argument that one cannot simply ignore.