A capstone for Jane Goodall
This article is an adaptation of our weekly Animals newsletter that was originally sent out on May 20, 2021. Want this in your inbox? Sign up here.
By Rachael Bale, ANIMALS Executive Editor
Jane Goodall is hopeful.
The 87-year-old primatologist, conservationist, and Nat Geo Explorer has spent most of her life fighting to protect wildlife and nature from the cruelty and destruction of humans, yet Goodall, pictured above in 1965, has maintained an upbeat outlook that seems to defy reason. In her 2000 memoir, Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, Goodall explored where that feeling comes from, with the help of religious scholar Phillip Berman:
“There are really only two ways, it seems to me, in which we can think about our existence here on Earth,” she writes. “We either agree with Macbeth that life is nothing more than a ‘tale told by an idiot,’ a purposeless emergence of life-forms....Or we believe that, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it, ‘There is something afoot in the universe, something that looks like gestation and birth.’ In other words, a plan, a purpose to it all.”
For both her writings on spirituality and the effects that her groundbreaking chimpanzee discoveries had on how humans see themselves, Goodall today was awarded the 2021 Templeton Prize, a $1.5 million award that honors people whose scientific work sheds light on “the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.” She joins the ranks of other Templeton laureates, who include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, physicist Freeman Dyson, and other religious leaders, scientists, philosophers, and humanitarians.
Best known for her long-term field studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park, which began in 1960, Goodall and her studies of their personalities, family bonds, and rituals helped transform the public’s view of animals. She discovered they use tools, wage war, form tight mother-baby bonds, and show compassion—more like humans than anyone had considered.
I encourage you to discover more about Jane Goodall, including:
* Her 1963 article for National Geographic about the Gombe chimps.
* A Q&A with Goodall on her 80th birthday
* In Praise of Difficult Women: An excerpt from author Karen Karbo’s book on 29 heroines who dared to break the rules.
* How Jane Goodall changed what we know about chimps
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INSTAGRAM PHOTO OF THE DAY
A close call: To raise awareness of the importance of bees for World Bee Day today, Angelina Jolie re-created a famous photo of herself with some. She tried to stay zen, she told our Indira Lakshmanan. Focus on the thrum. But then she felt one bee crawling up her dress. This image has been a phenomenon on our Instagram page, with more than 1.2 million likes in its first four hours today. Read more here and catch our interview with photographer (and beekeeper) Dan Winters in our weekend Photography newsletter.
Video: How this image happened
TODAY IN A MINUTE
Moving day: Five whales, ages 7 to 12, have been moved from Canada to Connecticut. Scientists at Mystic Aquarium have been eager to expand its beluga research program, particularly in light of the effects of climate change. “We needed to ensure there was a population of whales that we would have into the future for this important research,” the aquarium’s Allison Tuttle tells Nat Geo. The cross-border move was complex, and again raises debate on whether animals should be kept in captivity at all. (Above, a crane lifts Kharabali out of a pool at Marineland in Ontario, Canada.)
Breaking news: The Department of Justice has seized all the endangered big cats from a park owned by Jeff and Lauren Lowe, of Tiger King fame. Nat Geo’s Natasha Daly says the feds allege improper care of the 60-some animals. Here’s Natasha’s previous look at Lowe.
Beyond the honeybee: Today is World Bee Day, but photographer Clay Bolt wants us to turn our attention for a moment from the nonnative honeybee. Nearly 4,000 native bee species live in North America, including 47 species of bumblebees, and many are declining or at risk of extinction. See Bolt’s images of bees in this Nat Geo story.
No place for musk oxen: The Minnesota Zoo euthanized its last two musk oxen because its state is too warm. The animals first were introduced to the zoo in 1978, the Independent reports, but temperatures have since warmed and the animals’ health declined. Arctic tundra temperatures, where the musk oxen are from, can range from -30 to 20F (-34 to -6C), according to Nat Geo.
Canine COVID detectors? Dogs can sniff out drugs, even low blood sugar, and certain cancers. Now researchers are examining whether canines can be trained to sniff out the scent of coronavirus in sweaty T-shirts. If so, these dogs could be deployed to patrol airports, stadiums, and other public settings to sniff out the virus, Jillian Kramer reports for Nat Geo. See photos of these noble dogs.
We asked, you answered: Terrified at the notion of a snake in your car? So were more than 100 newsletter readers last week after watching the la-de-dah reaction on TikTok by Nat Geo Explorer and photographer Charlie Hamilton James to a python that had coiled with his vehicle in Mozambique. "I would die," writes reader Elaine Coble. "I would sell the car—remotely!" adds Helen Hayes (your curator checked; that’s her real name.) Anyway, the python video has more than 165,000 views so far.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY
Zap! From the electric eel to the echidna, many animals rely on electric currents to communicate, find prey, and defend themselves. Sharks, for example, “can sense muscle movement as it puts out electric fields, especially drastic movements,” George Parsons, of Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, tells Nat Geo. (An electric eel, pictured above, can generate more than 800 volts to stun prey.)
IN A FEW WORDS
Posturing on social media is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on people callous enough to treat animals like last season’s shoes. But it could make someone who is struggling with an incredibly difficult choice feel even worse.
S.E. Smith, Journalist, From: No, people aren’t giving up pandemic pets because they’re bored
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THE LAST GLIMPSE
Billions and billions: How many pigeons are there in this photo? For that matter, how many birds are there in the world? Biologist Corey Gallaghan set out to be the first to find out. “We spend a great deal of time and effort counting humans, but we need to be sure we are keeping tabs on all the biodiversity we share planet earth with,” tells Nat Geo. (Above, a flock of pigeons over a rooftop in Brookyn’s Bushwick neighborhood.)
This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard and Monica Williams, with photo selections by Jen Tse. Have an idea or a link? We’d love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com.
