Jane Goodall reveals the secrets of her incredible bond with primates. . . .

Jane Goodall reveals the secrets of her incredible bond with primates. The legendary 90-year-old conservationist on how they 'communicate in a way that pre dates human words'
By RICHARD GODWIN FOR YOU MAGAZINE

PUBLISHED: 07:01 EDT, 20 April 2024 | UPDATED: 07:18 EDT, 24 April 2024


I’m the female, you’re the big male and I’m a bit nervous of you,’ says Dame Jane Goodall. ‘So I come up to you with a submissive “Akh akh akh!”’

I have asked the world’s pre-eminent primatologist and environmental campaigner how we would greet each other if we were not humans, but chimpanzees: the animals that Goodall, 90, has spent more than six decades studying; the animals with whom we share 99 per cent of our genetic material. She has responded by resting her silvery head on my upper arm.

‘You actually quite like me, so you reach out – and you don’t make a sound,’ she says. ‘You’re completely quiet but you gently pat my head and that reassures me.’

I gently pat Goodall’s head. Apparently, this does the trick. ‘So I then go, “akh akh akh akh!”’ Her chimpanzee noises are extremely convincing. Apparently, this one signifies that we are now friends.

But she is quick to clarify. This is how chimpanzees from the same community say hello. If we were strangers? ‘Oh, two strangers would attack!’ Chimpanzees are eight times stronger than humans and have been known to rip people’s faces off.

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Despite the parlous state of the world, she is resolutely optimistic, and feels that the environmental movement succumbs too often to despair. ‘It’s making people lose hope. Imagine being a child and being told: “Well, the future’s doomed!’’’ One of her current projects is to push the government for a ban on the import of big-game trophies, i.e., body parts of endangered animals.

‘Once you realise that animals have feelings like we do and that they feel fear and pain, the way we treat them is a huge moral failing.’

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