DC Edit | Goodall Explained Nature To World

The world has lost a gentle yet formidable voice on human-animal relations and the environment with the passing of British primatologist Dr Jane Goodall at 91. Known as the pioneer who transformed our understanding of chimpanzees, Goodall was much more than a scientist — she was a storyteller, an advocate, and above all, a messenger of hope.

A pioneering ethologist, conservationist and humanitarian, she transformed both science and society with her quiet courage, compassion and belief in the interconnectedness of life.

In 1960, when Goodall entered the forests of Gombe in Tanzania, Africa, she was a young woman, who was armed with patience and a curiosity about animals. Her discovery that chimpanzees use tools shattered long-held dogmas that only human beings were smart. In her sunset years, she travelled far beyond the boundaries of zoology. She reminded the world that empathy, respect, and moral responsibility are key to the survival of this planet.

Apart from profiling wild chimpanzees, she always felt that the participation of youths is important to bring out a change in the system. Through her Roots & Shoots programme, she encouraged students to take action for their communities, animals, and the environment.

With extraordinary biodiversity and cultural traditions of nature, India has much to draw from Goodall’s message. Our challenges — deforestation and the mounting conflict between human needs and ecological survival — are similar to those the world has been witnessing for decades. As she said, the governments around the world must accept that understanding and protecting nature is not a luxury but a necessity for our own survival.

As India advances into an uncertain ecological future with frequent cloudbursts, unseasonal rains, floods and also an unlikely rain in Tibet, Jane Goodall’s life stands as both an inspiration and a challenge. The greatest tribute one can pay her is not in words, but in action — by protecting the earth with all its inhabitants.