Roots
& Shoots
Jane Goodall is famous/not only for her work with chimpanzees/but also for her effort to conserve nature. Here,/Ken interviews her/about her life and work.
Jane Goodall is famous/not only for her work with chimpanzees/but also for her effort to conserve nature. Here,/Ken interviews her/about her life and work.
- Ken:
-
Dr. Goodall,/thank you for taking time/for this interview.
I know that you spent many years/studying chimpanzees in
Africa.
When did you first decide to go to Africa?
- Jane:
-
It was after I had read the Doctor Dolittle
and the Tarzan books.
When I was 11,/I knew that somehow I would go to Africa/to live with
animals,/study them,/and write books about
them.
- Ken:
-
I’m sure/there are lots of young people/who want to work with animals someday.
How can they prepare themselves?
- Jane:
-
There are a lot of things you can do/in order to understand animals.
It is very important/that you watch them/and observe their behavior.
It is also important/that you write notes and ask
questions.
If you are really determined,/you’ll have to work really hard.
Take advantage of
every opportunity,/and don’t give up.
- Ken:
-
You did a lot of fieldwork,/observing chimpanzees in the wild.
Are they in any way like humans?
- Jane:
-
Chimps and humans have a lot in common,/sharing 98.6 percent of
DNA.
Their brains are very much like ours/and much of their behavior is like ours.
The members of a chimp family are very close,/often
helping one another.
They can feel sad, happy, afraid, and angry.
- Ken:
-
What about their character/—I mean,/are they friendly?
Are they cruel?
- Jane:
-
They are usually friendly,/but they can be
cruel,/just like humans.
- Ken:
-
Really?
- Jane:
-
The males sometimes attack chimps from another
community/to protect their territories.
But they can be very kind and loving too.
Once,/when he was about three years old,/a chimp called Mel lost his mother/and was left alone.
We all thought he’d die.
But, to our surprise,/a 12-year-old male chimp called Spindle/took care of him.
- Ken:
-
In what way?
- Jane:
-
Mel would ride on his back/and share his nest at
night.
He shared his food/if Mel asked
for it.
Chimps can indeed be loving and caring.
- Ken:
-
You travel all over the world,/giving talks
about the conservation of nature.
Do you have any comment?
- Jane:
-
Yes,/we humans must understand/that wild animals have the right to live.
They need wild places.
Besides,/there are some kinds of living things/that we must
not destroy.
Many drugs for human diseases/come from plants and insects.
When we destroy a wild area,/maybe we are destroying the
cure for cancer/without knowing it.
- Ken:
-
I see.
- Jane:
-
Everything in nature is connected.
Plants and animals make up a whole pattern of
life.
If we destroy that pattern,/all kinds of things can go wrong.
- Ken:
-
Could you say more about that?
- Jane:
-
Sure.
One time in England,/rabbits were destroying farmers’ grain.
The farmers killed the rabbits.
Then foxes didn’t have enough to eat/and they started
killing the farmers’ chickens.
The farmers then killed the foxes,/and rats quickly increased in number/and destroyed
just as much grain/as the rabbits had
eaten.
We humans are in danger of destroying our environment/and ourselves along with it.
- Ken:
-
Are you worried about our future?
- Jane:
-
Yes, I am.
But my hope lies in young people.
That’s why I started Roots & Shoots.
It began with a group of high school students in
Tanzania/in 1991.
It is called Roots & Shoots/because roots can work their way through rocks/to reach
water.
And shoots can break through a wall/to reach the sunlight.
The rocks and wall are the problems/humans have caused to
our earth.
- Ken:
-
Is it a kind of club for young people?
- Jane:
-
Yes.
We now have groups all over the world/and each group
chooses three projects:/one to help people,/one
to help animals,/one to help the environment.
The world is a better place/when a sad person smiles at
you,/when a dog wags its tail for you,/or when you give water to a thirsty plant.
That’s what Roots & Shoots is all
about.
- Ken:
-
Some final words?
- Jane:
-
People should think about the consequences/of the little choices they make
each day.
What to buy?
What to eat?
What to wear?
You are just one person,/but what you do affects the whole
world.
The changes you make may be small,/but if a thousand,/then a million,/finally a billion people/all make those changes,/this is going to make a big
difference.
- Ken:
-
Dr. Goodall,/thank you very much for sharing your
ideas with us.