All language subtitles for Jane.(2017).en

I think I've read somewhere,

maybe someone told me
that when you were a child

you used to dream as a man.

Yeah. I was typically a man,

I went on adventures.

How come?

Probably because
at the time

I wanted to do things
which men did

and women didn't.

You know going to Africa,

living with animals,

that's all I ever
thought about.

Everything led in
the most natural way.

It seems now,

to that magical invitation
to Africa in 1957

where I would meet
Dr. Louis Leakey,

who had sent me on my way
to Gombe and the chimpanzees.

I had no training, no degree.

But Louis didn't care
about academic credentials.

What he was looking for
was someone with an open mind,

with a passion for knowledge,

with a love of animals, and
with monumental patience.

My mission was to get
close to the chimpanzees,

to live among them,
to be accepted.

I wanted to come as close

to talking to animals
as I could.

To be like Doctor Doolittle.

I wanted to move among them
without fear, like Tarzan.

The huge, gnarled,
and ancient trees,

the little streams
chuckling their way through

rocky pathways to the lake.

The birds. The insects.

Since I was eight
or nine years old,

I had dreamed
of being in Africa,

of living in the bush
among wild animals.

And suddenly,

I found I was
actually living in my dream.

I already felt that I belonged
to this new forest world.

That this was where
I was meant to be.

When I arrived in Gombe,

I had no idea what
I was going to do

except that I was
going to try

and get the chimpanzees
used to me,

so that I could really learn
about what they were doing.

That was-- that was
in the back of my mind

because I'd watched
other animals,

and the only way
to learn about them

is when they know you're there,
but they ignore you.

Except they can
rip your face off.

Well, I didn't know that.

I didn't think about that!

There was nobody
talking about that.

There was no fear of
chimpanzees in the wild?

You have to realize
that back then,

there were no people
out in the field

whose research
I could read about

except this one man,

and he saw chimps
once or maybe twice

in the three months
of his study.

And then much earlier on,

there was this crazy man

who painted himself
with baboon shit, I think,

and sat in hides, in hopes
that chimps would appear.

There were plenty of snakes,
many poisonous snakes.

And to be honest,

I always believed that
if you walk carefully,

you don't startle a snake,

you don't tread on it,

they're not going
to hurt you.

I had this probably
crazy feeling.

"Nothing's going to hurt me,
I'm meant to be here."

I watched them feeding
in a large fig tree.

Calling noisily from
time to time.

The trees came alive.

And so began one of the most
exciting periods of my life.

The time of discovery.

My life fell into a rhythm.

Day after day.

In the sun, and the
wind and the rain.

I climbed into the hills

and stayed with the
chimps from dawn...

until darkness fell.

Most times I would encounter
a group of chimps

or a single chimp,

but there were times when
I couldn't find them at all.

And when I tried
to get closer,

they ran off
as soon as they saw me.

I was an intruder.

And a strange one at that.

As I am not a defeatist,

it only made my determination
to succeed stronger.

I never had any
thought of quitting.

I should forever have
lost all self respect

if I had given up.

I became totally absorbed
into this forest existence.

I could give myself up
to the sheer pleasure

of being on my own
in the rugged terrain

that I was coming to know
as well as I had known

the Bournemouth cliffs
as a child.

It was an unparalleled period.

When aloneness
was a way of life.

And even as I was, bit by bit,

piecing together something
of their way of life,

so they were getting
used to the sight

of the strange white ape.

In those days,

it was not thought at all safe
for a young, single girl

to go into
the wilds of Africa.

I had to choose a companion.

It was my mother
who volunteered.

Mom set up a clinic.

She handed out medicine

to many of the
local fisherman.

Patients would walk for
miles to get treatment.

What was your relationship
like with your father?

I didn't really
know my father.

He went off to the war.

When war broke out,
I was five

and of course
I hugely admired him,

but he didn't really
care about children.

So, I couldn't say I had
a relationship with him.

I think the most important
part about my mother

was that she listened.

She was always fair.

She was never angry
without a reason.

She supported me and
my love of animals.

She never said, "Well, you're just a girl.
You can't do that.

Why don't you dream about
something you can achieve?"

Which is what
everybody else told me.

So it was my mother who really
built up my self-esteem.

Like most children before the age of TV
and computer games,

I loved being outside.

Playing in the secret
places in the garden,

learning about nature.

I spent many hours
high above the ground

at the top of my favorite tree
and I would read up there

in my own leafy
and private world.

It was daydreaming about
life in the forest with Tarzan

that lead to my
determination to go to Africa

to live with animals
and write books about them.

I never had any
aspiration of being married

and having a family.

It just didn't come
into my way of thinking.

It simply wasn't there.

You know, going to Africa,
living with animals.

That's all I ever
thought about.

We were by no means
a wealthy family,

so university
wasn't an option.

But I still wanted
to work with animals

in some far off place.

I got a job as a waitress.

I saved my wages and my
tips, every penny I could...

to get me to Africa.

But even though I was
living my childhood dream,

I couldn't help
but be concerned

because I couldn't get
close to the chimps.

I didn't know if they
would ever get used to me.

And time was running out.

How frustrating was it

trying to study them
in those early days?

It was probably mostly frustrating

because they kept running away.

And while chimpanzees
are running away from you,

you can't really get down
to the details of their behavior

and in the back of my mind
it was always the fear

if I don't find out
something exciting.

The money will run out 'cause
all my earlier observations

were either chimps
close up running away,

or sitting on the peak
or some other spot

and watching them
through binoculars.

And so, you know,

from those early observations
it was very clear

that I wasn't really
learning anything much.

I'd been in Gombe
for five months.

It had been a
frustrating morning.

I had tramped up and down three
different valleys in search of chimps,

but had found none.

I soon recognized
the adult male

less fearful than the others

whom I already
knew by sight

because of the distinctive
white hair on his chin.

And unlike the others,

he didn't run.

After months of patient
and tireless observation,

I had been rewarded.

The chimps had accepted me.

And gradually I was able to
penetrate further and further

into a magic world that no
human had explored before.

The world of the
wild chimpanzees.

Finally, I was allowed to observe
the chimpanzees closely.

I learned that chimpanzees

spend long hours
in grooming sessions.

They, like us,
need friendly contact

and reassurance.

As I got to know them as
individuals, I named them.

David Greybeard, with his calm
and dignified personality

and often he was accompanied

by the top ranking male
at the time, Goliath.

Mr. McGregor, a somewhat
belligerent old male,

and then there was Flo,

with her bulbous nose
and ragged ears

along with her
infant daughter, Fifi.

Staring into the eyes
of a chimpanzee,

I saw a thinking,

reasoning personality
looking back.

I was learning from some of the most
fascinating creatures of our times.

And I realized that they
were all part of one group.

A community.

And the more I learned,

the more I realized
how like us they were...

in so many ways.

At that time
in the early 1960's,

it was held at least
by many scientists

that only humans had minds.

Only humans were capable
of rational thought.

Fortunately, I had
not been to university,

and I did not know
these things.

I felt very much as though

I was learning
about fellow beings

capable of joy and sorrow,
fear, and jealousy.

Louis Leakey sent me to Gombe

because he believed
that an understanding

of chimpanzees in the wild

would help him to better guess
how our Stone Age ancestors

may have behaved.

It had long been thought

that we were the
only creatures on Earth

that used and made tools.

"Man, the Toolmaker"
is how we were defined.

And here was David
Greybeard using a tool.

It was hard for me to
believe what I had seen.

A few days later,

I watched spellbound as chimps
set off to a termite mound,

picked a small leafy twig,

then stripped it
of its leaves.

That was object modification.

The crude beginning
of tool making.

It had never been seen before.

When I telegrammed
the news to Louis Leakey

he responded that
"We must now redefine man

or accept chimpanzee's as human."

My observations at Gombe

would challenge
human uniqueness

and whenever that happens

there is always
a violent uproar.

There were some who would try
to discredit my observations

because I was a young,
untrained girl

and should, therefore,
be disregarded.

The result of it all, however,

was that Louis
was able to obtain a grant

from the National
Geographic Society

to continue my study.

In addition, they would be
sending out a photographer

to document the chimpanzees.

Hi, I'm Jane.

Hugo.

Jane, for someone who
enjoyed your solitude,

were you concerned about

bringing another
person into your...

Yeah.

No, I wasn't particularly happy, but
it was part of the deal.

Geographic funds you.

They must cover the research.

It was my project.

And he came to, you know,
document my project.

And I just didn't want anybody

coming into my little paradise.

What were your first
impressions of Hugo?

Well, Hugo smoked.

He almost chain smoked.

And all the butts
on the floor, and the--

Oh, I've always
hated smoking.

And he was a perfectionist.

It drove me nuts.

But at the same time,
you know,

he was a nice looking guy
and his voice was quiet.

The first evening
Hugo spent telling me

about the films that
he'd made and his childhood

and how he'd always wanted
to photograph animals.

So we had a lot in common.

And I think it was pretty obvious to me
right from the start

that I was a subject
of interest

as well as the chimps.

One day, we were greeted
with fantastic news.

A chimp had crept
into my tent

and had taken some bananas
left from my supper.

Perhaps he would come again.

And so the next day,
Hugo and I waited.

As the hours went by,

I began to fear that the
chimp wouldn't come.

Then a black shape appeared on the other
side of the clearing.

I recognized him at once.

It was David Greybeard.

I could hardly believe it.

For months the chimps had been
running off when they saw me.

Now one had actually
visited my camp.

After that I always had a
supply of bananas ready.

The chimps often came to
camp looking for bananas.

And gradually they allowed
me to get closer and closer.

It was absolutely thrilling

to have the chimpanzees
so close,

but the bananas feedings
were not without problems.

As they lost
their fear of us,

the chimps quickly proved
to be unconscionable thieves.

They would steal blankets,

cloths from the kitchen,
shirts and pillows,

and cardboard boxes;
wonderful things to chew on.

No longer did the chimpanzees
arrive in small quiet parties.

Instead, they invaded
our camp in huge groups

and aggressive competition
between chimpanzees increased.

Occasionally, we
had to seek shelter.

And the aggression
became more serious.

In order to stop
the aggression,

we decided to create
the feeding station.

With the hope that it would control
their aggressive tendencies

and bring peace.

Now, using hand
operated steel boxes,

we could manage the
feeding in an organized way.

As a result,

we were able to make closer
observations than ever before.

Old Flo was easy to identify,

she had a bulbous nose
and ragged ears.

Flo was the top ranked
female of her community

and could dominate all
the other females.

But none of the adult males.

For in chimpanzee society,
males are the dominant sex.

One day she came to camp

with a pink swelling
on her backside.

It was a sign that she
was ready for mating.

Many of the males
quickly realized

and began their pursuit.

She was followed by
a long line of suitors.

It was from Flo
that I first learned

that in the wild female chimps

do not just have one mate.

She allowed them all
to mate with her.

And Fifi hated it.

It must have been exciting

to have been joined by someone
who shared your passions.

No, that's right.

We both loved
being out in nature

and we both loved
the work we were doing.

We just got on very well.

Hugo's time in Gombe
was almost over.

I cared for him, and I
knew that I would miss him,

but then after he had left,
I received a telegram.

When you and Hugo
decided to get married,

what were your plans?

You know honestly, we
didn't make long term plans,

we really didn't.

We just wanted to go back
to Gombe and make films.

When we returned to Gombe,
there was wonderful news.

Flo gave birth to a son.

I called him Flint.

When Flint was born,

it gave Hugo and I the opportunity

to initiate a study that
could last 50 years.

And it was the first time
an infant chimpanzee

and the relationship
between parent and child

could be observed
so closely in the wild.

As a mother,
Flo was affectionate,

tolerant, and nurturing

and used distraction
rather than punishment

to teach her small infant.

Fifi soon became utterly preoccupied
with her infant brother.

She tried to handle him.

But Flo very gently
prevented her.

Eventually though,
as soon as she was allowed

she played with him,
groomed him,

and carried him around.

Indeed, she became a
real help to her mother.

What was it about Flo
that you admired?

Well, she was all things
that a chimp mother should be.

She was protective,
but not over protective.

She was affectionate,
she was playful,

but being supportive.

That was the key ,

and of course that is
what my mother was.

She supported me.

And there's no question

that those close contacts
with Flo and her family

were very important
to my own development.

It was just so amazing

to have this sort
of relationship.

Together, the chimpanzees
and the birds and the insects,

the teeming life
of the vibrant forest,

formed one whole.

All part of the great mystery.

And I was part of it too.

All the time, I was getting
closer to animals and nature

and as a result,
closer to myself

and more in tune
with the spiritual power

that I felt all around.

I thought, as I have
so often since,

what an amazing
privilege it was

to be utterly accepted thus

by a wild, free animal.

Truth is stranger than fiction

and fiction can be
transformed into prophecy.

Here we have a perfect
example of that evolution,

with this lovely
English lady called Jane

and likewise traded her
comfortable home in England

for the primitive life
of the African wilderness

among the African apes.

And now I give myself
the rewarding pleasure

of presenting to you
Miss Jane Goodall.

David Graybeard is a chimpanzee

who has put his
complete trust in man.

Surely, it's up to us

to see that, at least, some of
these nearly human creatures

survive in their
natural habitat.

Jane Goodall tall,
blonde and beautiful.

Jane Goodall living
with the chimpanzees

in the wilds of Africa...

I was the Geographic covergirl.

And people said well my
fame was due to my legs.

Well, I mean, it was so
stupid, it didn't bother me.

It was really very useful

because by this time I was
needing to raise money myself,

so I made use of it.

Hugo and I successfully applied

for additional funding,

to build up a research
station in Gombe.

And we accepted students

so that we could take advantage

of the increased opportunity
for collecting data.

Jane Goodall came back from Africa

just a few weeks ago.

Since then, she's been traveling
around Europe and across America,

telling zoologists.

It is a very great pleasure
for Hugo and me

to be with you here tonight.

Dr. Goodall and her husband

have been filming and studying
the behavior of chimpanzees.

...to film her studies
and they later married.

She and her husband,
Baron Hugo van Lawick,

are now the leading experts
in the study of chimpanzees,

their research station
in Gombe in Tanzania.

I am absolutely
full of admiration

for somebody who can go
and live alone in a jungle

and do this sort of work
that you did.

Were you ever really
very frightened?

Sometimes I was frightened,

especially of things
like leopards,

but it was the kind of life

I had always dreamed
of myself living.

And it was so fascinating
that nothing could deter me.

What about the actual
significance of the studies?

We feel quite strongly
that one of the goals

of continuing new work

is to increasingly
relate our understanding

of chimpanzee behavior
to human behavior.

How long are you going
to be associated

with the chimpanzees?

Oh I should say it's a
rough guess until I die,

but I can't tell you how
many years that will be.

But I think one of
the most valuable things

has been this film record
which has been kept

and we are hoping
that Hugo will be able

to come back and carry on.

Especially as the last three months
gave such fantastic film,

better than all the
rest put together.

It seems to me vitally important
that somebody should be there.

I think the Committee would
disagree that that's essential.

Hugo, would you like to say anything
about the filming? The problems?

Uh, no.

Unless there's something
else to discuss,

we will adjourn the meeting.

Geographic ended the funding
for Hugo just like that.

But it was always an assignment

and assignments, when you're a cameraman,
come to an end.

It was very upsetting.

Unfortunate and sad.

And it was like, well, what do we do?
You know, how do we?

'Cause I wanted to go on
at Gombe and he couldn't.

It was simple like that.

So then I had to change
everything actually.

We had to find
other work to do.

Which we did, of course.

On the Serengeti.

We had students at Gombe

and we used to talk
to them on the radio telephone

just about every day, I think.

So, I would write books.

And Hugo would make films.

Was it difficult for you
not to be in Gombe?

Well, because I had a jolly good
team of students at Gombe

and I heard what
was happening all the time,

it wasn't too bad at all.

I had all this
finding out to do.

So, I was getting on
with writing

and I was able to
watch other animals

and that gave me
a wider perspective.

I understood more animals better

than if I hadn't left Gombe.

From the moment when we
stood on the Serengeti plains,

it had been as though
an unseen hand

had drawn back a curtain.

The mystery of evolution
was all around us.

I was awed by the beauty.

We didn't sit down and talk
about shall we have children

or anything like that.

But Grub came along
so, that was that.

It was just one of the things that happened,
you know.

You got married
and you got pregnant,

and you had a baby.

I don't remember contemplating

what this would do to me,
what it would do to us,

how it would be,

but the idea of having
a baby after Flo had a baby

and I thought I would
watch my baby

and see the difference.

And of course, Grub would
be with us on the Serengeti.

I had planned to do
a decent study

and keep notes
and everything,

watching for the
development stages in Grub,

just as I had done
with the chimps.

And capturing it on film
seemed a jolly good idea,

but it doesn't work
with your own child.

I just found that
I didn't want to do it,

I wanted just to be there
in the moment.

For the first
three years of his life,

I wasn't away
one single night.

I was always there.

Of course, like all mothers,

I wanted to give my son the
best possible start in life,

and I had to choose between
various sources of advice.

There was my own mother,

there was Dr. Spock,
and there was Flo.

There is no doubt that my observations
of the chimpanzees

helped me to be a better mother.

But I found also that the experience of being
myself a mother

helped me better understand
chimpanzee maternal behavior.

It was not until Grub
came along, for example,

that I began to understand

the basic powerful
instincts of mother love.

How much more easily
I could now understand

the feelings of a
chimpanzee mother

who furiously waved her arms
and barked out threats

to any who approached
her infant too closely.

When Grub was little,

it was dangerous
for him at Gombe.

Chimpanzees eat other primates.

We are a primate.

They have been known
to take infant humans.

I wasn't going to risk
my little precious son.

So when we went to
Gombe, it was a cage.

It had been made at a time

when some of the chimps became

very aggressive towards Hugo.

And so Grub sat in a cage.

But it was painted blue

and there were
mobiles hanging down

and it was very lovely.

I had thought that
I could raise a child

and carry on with my work
at the same time.

It was not so.

I stopped following
the chimps,

the students and
field staff did that.

I merely administered
the research station.

Eventually, we spent
the bulk of our time

working on the Serengeti.

I was Hugo's assistant
and I was mother to Grub.

From Nairobi,
in a small bush plane

it's a two hour flight
to en Dudu Tanzania.

Our purpose was to meet Grub,

the three and a half year old
son of Doctor Jane Goodall

and Hugo van Lawick.

Born and raised in Africa,

who speaks to animals,
English to his parents,

and perfect Swahili
to his only playmate,

a 40-year-old African.

This child has spent three quarters of
his life in Africa,

and I don't mean in
a Nairobian cities.

I mean in really remote areas.

You'll make a sound for me?

What does a zebra say, Grub?

A bit louder.

That's right.
And what about a hyena?

That's a beauty.
And a lion?

Tell me some stories about
raising a child here, Hugo.

Well, one of the first
things we had to do

when he was tiny

was teach him of the
dangers in the bush,

so we showed them to him
and say, "Ow, ow,"

and teach him that he was to stay away
from these animals.

Did you learn anything from watching chimps
and raising children?

I'm told that a chimp baby
is just given so much love.

Is that a good, do you think you could transfer
that to our lives?

Does it have a meaning?

With Grub, we gave him immense
amounts of love and security,

and everyone said, "Oh, he'll be so
dependent on you.

He'll never make his
own way in the world."

It seems to myself,
the opposite.

When he reaches six,

Grublin will have to be taken
to England for schooling.

I hope, in the process
of being educated,

he never forgets what
he has already learned.

Hello, hello, hello.

Any news with you?
Any news with you? Over.

I just talked to...

and I think they're coming.
Over.

Okay, okay, have received you.

I'll be joining you soon.

Over and out, over and out.

It was a horrible time,
one after the other.

Chimpanzees came
in, dragging limbs.

Some of them were okay.

But McGregor...

both legs gone.

Unable to use even one arm.

It was awful.

We immediately found that
we could vaccinate the chimps.

It was a bit late,

but maybe it would
have gone on if we hadn't.

But, McGregor...

he had to be shot.

Did someone say, "Let
nature take its course?"

Sorry.

I didn't care
what anybody said.

I was going to help
the chimps if I could.

I couldn't watch an animal suffering

anymore than I could
watch a human suffering

and not help if I could.

I see no difference

between helping a human
and helping an animal.

I mean, yes we could have
gone on and fed him every day

and kept him alive
for what reason?

To be honest,
if that happens to me,

I do not wish to be kept alive either.

Were you ever concerned that
you might've carried it in?

No.

The first examples of polio
were not from our chimps.

They were way to the south,

and that's where
the human polio was.

So I didn't feel responsible
for introducing it.

Although, for sure,
it could pass on more

because they were
coming together.

But it didn't start with us

which was-- which was
very reassuring, actually.

After the incident,

it was no longer permitted
to touch the chimpanzees.

Gombe would never
be quite the same.

I wanted nothing more than
to be with the chimpanzees,

and I made the decision
to spend more time in Gombe.

Grub stayed with me.

So in the morning, I would
do analysis of data,

administration,
that sort of thing.

And then I would spend about one
to two hours up in a chimp camp

with the students and
looking at the chimps.

And then every afternoon
was his, totally.

And he loved chimpanzees?

No, he did not.
He hated them.

He's never loved chimpanzees.

And around him, the leaves are
changing color and falling.

I tried to home school him.

"Look, Aunt Flo."

That's funny, isn't it?

"Aunt Flo."

I felt a bit isolated
at that time.

-"B."
-That's right.

But there were always

one or two students
who would come along

and provide that sort of, you know,

emotional support that I think
sometimes is very important.

And of course Hugo was away
somewhere else filming

so he wasn't there to-- to help.

I mean that was
the deal, that was his work.

Flint was now an adolescent.

And old Flo...

Hello, Flo.

She was now a grandmother.

Hello, Flo.

Fifi had an infant
of her own.

A new generation of
Flo's family to study.

But even though
he was at an age

when most males begin to spend time
away from their mothers,

Flint was still
dependent on Flo.

By this time, she must've
been close to 50 years old.

But Flint insisted
on riding her back.

Flint was still suckling.

Flo would push him away,

and he cried, and he screamed,
and he got very, very clingy

and very, very dependent.

She was too old to push
him to independence.

You more than anyone knew the
importance of socialization.

Were you concerned about Grub?

Well, Grub was school age,

and I couldn't go on
homeschooling him anymore.

So, it was decided that he would start
school in England

and live with Mom.

And I quite well remember
when I had to leave him.

And how awful and
betraying I felt.

But it was better for Grub.

In Christmas and Spring,
I went to the UK.

In the summer,
he came out to Tanzania.

Back at Gombe now,
Dr. Goodall,

what kind of enterprise
is it today?

Well today, it's the Gombe
Stream Research Center.

There are anything between
six and twelve scientists

working on different aspects
of chimp or baboon behavior.

And there are also students
studying for their PhD degrees

or doing post doctoral work
on specific aspects of chimp behavior,

which, you know, it's quite a big little
scientific community.

Flo died as she crossed

the clear, fast-flowing Kokombe stream.

She looked so peaceful.

It was as if her heart had
suddenly just stopped beating.

Flint sat on the bank of
the stream near Flo's body.

From time to time
he approached her

as though begging her
to groom him,

to comfort him as she had always done
throughout his life.

Finally, Flint moved away.

His depression worsened.

He stopped eating.

He stayed mostly alone.

And in this state of
grief, he fell sick.

It was as though
without his mother,

he no longer had the will to live.

And about three weeks
after Flo died,

Flint died, too.

After the death of Flo,

the chimpanzee community,

whose members
I had come to know so well,

began to divide.

As chimps of one group
started to spend more time

in the southern
part of the range

over which the whole
community roamed.

By separating themselves,

it was as though they had
forfeited their right

to be treated as
community members.

Instead, they were
treated as strangers.

Our idyllic world,
our little paradise,

had been turned upside down.

The once peaceful
seeming chimpanzees

were heavily engaged

in what amounted to a
sort of primitive warfare.

The entire community that
moved south was annihilated.

It must have been a
very dark time for you.

It was a very, very
dark time, it was.

I thought they were like us,
but nicer than us.

I had no idea of the
brutality that they can show.

Took me awhile to come
to terms with that.

War had always seemed to me

to be a purely human behavior.

I had come to accept that the dark
and evil side of human nature

was deeply embedded in our genes,

inherited from our
ancient primate ancestors.

You and Hugo had been
in different places.

Did you feel yourselves
drifting apart?

Well, you do drift apart

when you're in two different places

and you have different goals in a way.

Hugo wasn't anymore content

with just being at Gombe for me,

he needed to be in
the Serengeti for him.

Were you struggling to try
and keep the marriage together?

Well for Grub's sake, but

we'd begun bickering by then,

and so you have to weigh up,

you know, is it better
to stay together

or to subject your child
to constant bickerings.

He wanted me to leave Gombe,

because there was no way
he could stay and work,

but I couldn't.

It was my life,
and he had his.

During the trying time
of my divorce,

it was all very sad.

Especially for Grub, for he,
of course, loved us both.

But I realized that my experience
in the forest had given me perspective.

In the forest,
death is not hidden,

it's all around you,
all the time.

A part of the endless
cycle of life.

Chimpanzees are born,
they grow older,

they get sick,
and they die.

And always there are
the young ones

that carry on the life of the species.

Louis Leakey sent me to Gombe

with the hope that a better understanding
of chimpanzee behavior

might provide us with
a window on our past.

Our study of the chimpanzees
had helped to pinpoint

not only the similarities
between them and us,

but also those ways in which
we are most different.

Admittedly, we're not the only beings
with personalities,

reasoning powers,
altruism, and emotions,

nor are we the only beings
capable of mental

as well as physical suffering.

But our intellect has grown
mightily in complexity

since the first true men branched off
from the ape men's stalk

some two million years ago.

And we, and only we,

have developed a sophisticated
spoken language.

For the first time in evolution,

a species evolved that was
able to teach its young

about objects and events not present,

to pass on wisdom
gleaned from the successes

and the mistakes of the past.

With language we can ask
as can no other living being,

those questions about who we are
and why we are here.

And this highly developed
intellect means surely,

that we have a responsibility towards
the other life forms of our planet,

whose continued existence
is threatened

by the thoughtless behavior
of our own human species.

My life, at the time,
was perfect.

I was spending time in the field.

I was writing a book.

I had students so the research was secure

and I could be with my son.

It was my life for the rest of my life?

It was better than anything I dreamed of.

But I knew that the chimpanzees across
Africa were disappearing.

So that's when I realized
that I had to raise awareness

about the plight of chimps in Africa

and the role that I must play

is to make sure that
the next generation

are better stewards than we've been.

And I needed to take that
message to the world.

And since that time,
that was October 1986,

I haven't been more than three weeks
consecutively in any one place.

When I look back over my life,

it seems I've been
extraordinarily lucky.

Although as my mother
Vanne always says,

luck was only part of the story.

She's always believed that success
comes through determination and hard work

and that the fault
is not in our stars,

but in ourselves
that we are underlings.

I certainly believe that's true.

Yet though I had
worked hard all my life,

I must admit that the stars

seemed to have played their part, too.