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National Geographic's Jane Goodall: My Life With the Chimpanzees [VHS]

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I recently saw this video in my science class, and really loved it. Jane Goodall is my role model, yet I belive that everybody would enjoy this biography about a remarkable woman. I know I did. Also, if this video intrests you, try Reason for hope: a spirtual journey by Jane Goodall! ENJOY!

In one of National Geographic's most famous videos, Jane Goodall's pioneering studies of the chimpanzees in the Gombe forest of Tanzania come to life in living color. Goodall began her work in 1957, when she was a 23-year-old protégée of Dr. Louis Leakey, volunteering to become the first person to study chimpanzees for an extended period of time. Eventually, she would spend thirty years living in a tent and enduring difficult conditions, studying three generations of the same chimpanzee family.

Photographed by Hugo Van Lawick, Goodall's husband for eleven years, the video shows major discoveries, photographed as they actually occurred for the first time-a chimpanzee pushing a long piece of grass into a termite mound so he could capture and eat termites (the first known use of tools), a chimpanzee mother allowing her baby to approach and touch Goodall, and the first time Goodall observed a devastating chimpanzee war and the cannibalism that followed.

Throughout, Goodall stresses the closeness of chimpanzees to humans in feelings and needs, but they never become her "friends," not even the favorite David Greybeard and the loving "Flo"--these are animals, she recognizes, and though they sometimes resemble the best in mankind, they can also resemble the worst. When her own son, known as Grub, is born, Goodall models her care of him after that of Flo, the best of the chimpanzee mothers, but she also protects him by stashing him inside a wire cage when he is outside so that his cries will not be interpreted as those of a wounded animal. Chimpanzees are often carnivorous, and Goodall and Van Lawick take no chances.

Continuing the story until 1990, when the video was produced, Goodall describes her current activism on behalf of chimpanzees used in biological laboratories, urging researchers to look for alternatives wherever possible, and if chimpanzees MUST be used because of their biological closeness to mankind, to improve their care--getting rid of tiny cages, providing them with companionship, breaking up the monotony of their day. She has worked with African governments to help preserve habitat, and has made countless speeches to children and adults to inspire others to help preserve this slowly dying species. Goodall says, "We all matter. We all [chimpanzees included] have a place in the world. We should respect that." n Mary Whipple

Im doing a research paper about jane goodall- my life with the chimps and this website helped a lot. thank you!

I was looking for information about when Jane Goodall touched the first chimp but this only said that it tells you about that in the video! We want information when we come looking at this article!

I was looking for information about when Jane Goodall touched the first chimp but this only said that it tells you about that in the video! We want information when we come looking at this article!