Primatologist warns chimpanzees face extinction By Bianca Nogrady The rapidly expanding population in Africa will soon lead to the extinction of 250,000 members of our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees, according to world-famous primatologist Jane Goodall. Speaking at the ANU as part of the Questacon Public Lecture Program, Goodall delivered a fascinating and inspiring talk on her extensive work with chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, which has since made her a household name and champion of conservation. Her tour is part of a fundraising effort for the Jane Goodall Institute, and co-organiser, Dr Colin Groves of the ANU Anthropology department, was happy with the $3,800 raised from ticket sales. Despite widespread efforts to slow the inexorable destruction of chimpanzees' natural habitat, the rainforest that was once a broad belt spanning Central Africa has since been reduced to small, isolated patches home to a few struggling communities of chimpanzees. The needs and demands of a desperate people dispossessed by widespread civil warfare have seen many chimpanzees end up as pets, food or souvenirs, especially since the commercialisation of hunting in Africa. "Some chimps are lucky and end up in good zoos like Taronga, while less-fortunate ones end up in bad zoos, or in entertainment," Goodall said. The world of chimpanzees, described in colourful detail by Goodall, is a fascinating and educational one, including characters reminiscent of individuals in everyday human life. Goodall likened chimpanzees to hyperactive human children: "It's fascinating how many of their behaviours and gestures mimic our own." However scientific thought in the 1960s, when Goodall began her ground-breaking work, dismissed any ideas of a chimpanzee culture. "The idea of chimpanzee culture aroused shock and horror, as it was thought only humans could have culture," she said. The discovery that chimpanzees used tools such as stripped twigs to extract termites from their nest, led to the famous statement by her mentor Louis Leakey: "Now we must redefine man, redefine tools or accept chimps as humans." Another endangered chimpanzee species, bonobo or pygmy chimps, are of extreme interest to ANU student Michele Hawkins, who is the Australian representative for the Bonobo Protection Fund. She says bonobos number less than 5,000 individuals in the wild, and 300 in captivity, placing them very close to extinction. Bonobo society is as dynamic and complex as that observed by Goodall in the Gombe National Park. "Bonobos have a matriarchal society that is very peaceful and calm, although they are extremely promiscuous animals," Ms Hawkins said. Chimpanzees have been established by molecular and zoological analysis as the closest living relatives to human beings, which has had led to the widespread use of chimpanzees for research. Goodall, while not dismissing research with chimpanzees, found it illogical that science could employ the remarkable physiological similarities of chimps and humans for physiological research, yet simultaneously fail to appreciate the emotional and behavioural similarities, in subjecting chimps to conditions which would be totally unacceptable for human subjects. However, the outlook for chimps is not entirely black, she said. "Most would say it's too late, but while Planet Earth is a very big boat heading towards rocks, it takes time for a big boat to change course," said Goodall. "I have three reasons for hope - the amazing human intellect that allows us to learn to do things better, the tremendous energy of the young in their determination to improve the world, and the indomitable nature of the human spirit".