Author: Jane Goodall

I am not sure who introduced me to La Vieille for the first time, way back in the late 1980s. She was living (existing rather) in what was known as the Pointe Noire Zoo in the Republic of Congo. It had been built, in the French colonial era, as a holding station for wild animals destined for zoos in Europe. Sometimes orphaned chimpanzees were put there after their mothers had been shot for bush meat. But by the time I went there, these infants had been rescued by an expat, Madame Jamart, and La Vieille was one of about 5…

Every year, billions of birds migrate (sometimes for thousands of miles), to their breeding grounds and back again. Many of them follow well established routes known as ‘flyways.’ I know birders who travel each year to watch the migration of raptors, including bald eagles. The internet provides fascinating information if you are interested to learn more about these extraordinary journeys. To give just a few examples from my browsing: The Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea has the longest recorded migration of any bird on the planet – a round trip of roughly 22,000 miles, some 11,000 miles each way – from…

One of the things that enables me to survive my never ending tours is the fact that I meet not only amazing human beings, but also wonderful animals. And so I thought you might enjoy hearing abut some of them! Perhaps the most extraordinary was my introduction to LiLou. I arrived in San Francisco airport on March 21st 2017 and, as we left the plane there to greet us was – a pig! Yes, I am serious. LiLou is America’s first therapy pig, recruited into the team of animals, mostly dogs, but also cats and rabbits, who spend time wandering…

Recently, the German Minister banned meat at official functions (HuffPo).  Additionally, Portugal just passed a law which requires public cafeterias to offer at least one vegan option, applying to prisons, schools, universities, hospitals and other public buildings (Care2). Some people may be asking, ‘Why all this fuss?,’ but as we approach the People’s Climate March this Saturday Apr 29th (of which I was a participant in 2014) and on the coattails of this year’s Earth Day, there are many pressing reasons why what we eat is a major factor in our health and the health of the world along with…

Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting grizzly bears on several occasions, including up close in Alaska. They are huge, majestic, awe-inspiring and like so many people I was deeply moved. For me they symbolize, along with the Wolf, the Bison and the Bald Eagle, the American wilderness that I read and dreamed about as a child.  And though I am no expert on bear behavior or ecology, I’ve learned a great deal about them from books and talking to those who study them. I know about their remarkable intelligence, their differing personalities, their close family bonds.…

I was very pleased last year when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enacted a rule that bars state-sponsored and recreational killing of ecologically important predator species like gray wolves and grizzly bears on national wildlife refuges in Alaska.  But now I hear, to my dismay, that this rule (called the Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska) has been overturned in the House, and is on track to being undone completely. In 2016, the US House voted to sanction a number of barbaric practices: killing hibernating bears, killing wolf cubs…

At the recent International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) meeting on biodiversity in Hawaii last September I was asked by one of my good friends, Azzedine Downes, who happens to be President of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) if I would give a short talk at a gathering they were organizing – about pangolins! Azzedine knows I cannot refuse him and so of course, I had to say “yes!” The purpose of the evening was to help persuade countries around the world that all pangolins should receive the highest level of protections from international trade. I remembered the first time I heard…

When I heard that Robert had left us, I found it hard to believe.  For it marks the passing of an era, the era of the first great early ethologists, Konrad Lorenz, Karl von Fritz, Niko Tinbergen, Robert’s supervisor, David Lack – and Robert Hinde himself. It is not my intention to write about the huge influence Robert’s work had on ethology, psychology and other branches of science:  only on the way he impacted my own career, and the development of the Gombe Stream Research Centre. When, in 1962, Louis Leakey secured me a place in Cambridge University to work…

The Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona vittata: Rescued from Extinction It was during a visit to Puerto Rico with Roots & Shoots champions, Dr. Rick and Nelly Asselta, that I heard about a perfect Good News story for this blog – the rescue of the endemic Puerto Rican Parrot from the very brink of extinction. I was eager to learn more and was introduced, by phone, to Victor Cuevas. Anxious to follow this up before the next country on my tour was upon me with all its own stories, I arranged to call Victor from the airport. We had a great…

I just received the wonderful news that China will shut down its legal commercial ivory trade, completely, by the end of 2017. It is fantastic news for the elephants and for those fighting to save them since China is the biggest market for ivory. This news comes two days after I shared information about the inspiring and courageous film, The Ivory Game – a film which may have influenced the timing of this announcement. It is a film that highlights the international network of poachers and traffickers that has been responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of elephants…