Dr. Goodall: It's very different. Our intelligences are different. If a human went to live in the forest, we would find the chimpanzee seems more intelligent because he could survive better. We tend to measure intelligence with a human standard. Right now, humans show a lot of cleverness, but seem to be losing wisdom. The indigenous peoples never made a major decision without considering its impact on those born seven generations in the future. Many of the environmental decisions made by many politicians around the world today would not be made if they thought that way.
Ecojas: You mentioned the possibility of Frodo being infected with cancer or some other internal disease. Is cancer prevalent among chimps? If so, any known cause?
Dr. Goodall: As far as we know, cancer is not prevalent, but we don't usually know what they die of because they just disappear. Frodo is still weak, and none of the samples that we've sent show any signs of bacteria or parasites.
Lori: What are young people in Tanzania doing to help chimpanzees?
Dr. Goodall: The young people in most of Tanzania have so many enormous environmental and social problems that chimpanzees are not on their radar screens. Those around Gombe National Park are mostly part of Roots & Shoots, and by understanding chimpanzees and learning that trees need to be restored outside the park, they are helping to ensure their future.
Pam: Jane, could you share the feeling you get when being groomed by a chimp? It must be a remarkable experience.
Dr. Goodall: Well, most of my grooming has been by captive chimps, but in the old days, before we realized the danger of chimps being infected with human diseases, I was groomed by a few wild chimpanzees. It was absolutely amazing. I knew I had been accepted.
Bloomie36: What was the most unusual fact you discovered while studying hyenas? I am doing a year long report on them for my third grade class. Thanks.
Dr. Goodall: I hope you can find a copy of Innocent Killers, a book I wrote with Hugo van Lawick, which should be in your library. It was absolutely fascinating to see how females are the dominant sex, how they nurse their young for about 18 months (which is amazingly long for a carnivore), their vivid personalities, the marvelous games they watched in the moonlight around the dens, and how the young cubs would all choose one den to gather in at night, and they would choose the dens of the youngest cubs who couldn't move. Social hanging out!
