Guest guest Posted October 29, 2003 Report Share Posted October 29, 2003 - " BEKOFF MARC " <Marc.Bekoff <undisclosed-recipients:> Wednesday, October 15, 2003 4:35 AM San Jose Mercury News > > Posted on Sun, Oct. 12, 2003 > > Goodall blasts Bush policies on environment and > wildlife > > By Frank Sweeney > > SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS > > The biggest threat to chimpanzees, the African ape > that is the closest relative of the human species, may > be hunters seeking bushmeat, renowned primatologist > Jane Goodall told a Silicon Valley audience Saturday. > But in the past three years, she said, another threat > to endangered animals around the world has emerged -- > the Bush administration. > Goodall, famed for her research with chimpanzees in > Tanzania since 1960, was harshly critical of President > Bush's environmental record while delivering the > keynote speech at the second annual Wildlife > Conservation Expo at Foothill College in Los Altos > Hills. > " What the Bush administration has done over the past > three years to overturn environmental laws is > unbelievable. It's shameful. We must not sit still and > do nothing, " she said. > Goodall is widely known for her studies at the Gombe > Stream Chimpanzee Reserve that became the basis for > primatological research and redefined the relationship > between animals and humans. > In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall Institute, > and now travels around the world to speak of threats > to the chimpanzees and other environmental issues. She > was recently named a U.N. Messenger of Peace. > Goodall is especially angered by a Bush administration > proposal to interpret the Endangered Species Act in a > radical way to allow hunters, circuses and the pet > industry to kill, capture and import animals that are > on the brink of extinction in other countries. > This runs counter to the course followed since > President Nixon signed the act in 1973. The original > law prohibits importing endangered animals or their > parts into the country. > The Bush administration is now arguing for a change, > saying allowing U.S. interests to pay poor countries > to take fixed numbers of endangered animals would fund > conservation programs for those animals that remain. > " This will mean it's going to be possible to shoot any > of the endangered animals and just say the money goes > to conservation, " Goodall said. " It stinks, quite > honestly. " > In a later interview, Goodall said the proposed change > wouldn't hold officials accountable in the countries > where animals would be captured or killed. They " don't > have to say how the money is going to be used, " she > said. " It's an open door to corruption. It's > disgusting. " > Goodall's decades of research in Africa are now known > around the world. Before her work, scientists believed > that only people were capable of using tools. She > showed that chimpanzees can make tools and have deep > affection for each other. > " Chimpanzees are so much like us, the way they think > and solve problems, " Goodall said in her talk. " The > chimpanzee is our closest living relative. Its DNA > differs by less than 1 percent. Chimpanzees indeed > share some of our intellectual abilities. They have an > amazingly complex social structure. They have a sense > of humor, a sense of self. They are capable of deep > grief. " > But, she added, " They are capable of extreme > brutality, of hatred or fear of strangers, of > competition over territory. We've inherited some > aggressive traits from our common ancestor. We are > unique, but less different than we thought. " > Over the past century, the number of chimpanzees has > dwindled from 2 million to 150,000, now scattered in > small populations in 21 different African nations, she > said. The chimpanzees' habitat " is being destroyed by > a relentlessly growing population, " she said. > According to Goodall, poachers and commercial hunters > remove as many as 1 million tons of illegal bushmeat > -- gorillas and other great apes as well as > chimpanzees -- from African forests every year. Such > large-scale slaughter could eradicate all great apes > within a couple of decades. > The bushmeat trade became possible, Goodall said, > because giant lumber companies have built roads into > the dense forests of the Congo Basin, giving the > hunters access to their prey. " This is not > sustainable, " she said. " It's a very grim picture. " > In the Congo, she said, " there is massive corruption. > The bushmeat trade is lining the pockets of the > officials. " > But there is hope, she said. Agencies of the United > Nations and United States have pumped $60 million into > the Congo Basin Partnership of six nations, and now > there's money to police vast areas. In Gabon, 13 new > national parks have been created to save wildlife > habitat. > Still, " the entire African continent is tragic to me, " > Goodall said, citing overpopulation and hunger, > deforestation, the disappearance of habitats and > wildlife, and " the misery of the people. More people > are living on land that cannot support them. It's a > recipe for disaster. " > However, there is some good news, Goodall said. > Because of human intervention, the whooping crane, the > California condor and other species around the world > have come back from the abyss, she said. She hopes the > same will hold true for the great apes. > " Some are success stories, " she said. " Whenever there > is an endangered species, there is a champion. " > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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