Jane Page #3

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1960's it was held at

least by many scientists

that only humans had minds.

Only humans were capable

of rational thought.

Fortunately, I had not

been to university, and I

did not know these things.

I felt very much as though

I was learning about fellow

beings capable of joy and

sorrow, fear, and jealousy.

Louis Leakey sent me to Gombe

because he believed that an

understanding of chimpanzees

in the wild would help him to

better guess how our Stone Age

ancestors may have behaved.

It had long been thought

that we were the only

creatures on earth that used

and made tools.

Man the toolmaker is

how we were defined.

And here was David

Greybeard using a tool.

It was hard for me to

believe what I had seen.

A few days later I watched

spellbound as chimps set

off to a termite mound,

picked a small leafy

twig, then stripped

it of its leaves.

That was object modification.

The crude beginning

of tool making.

It had never been seen before.

When I telegramed the news to

Louis Leakey he responded that

we must now redefine man

or accept chimpanzee's as human.

My observations at Gombe would

challenge human uniqueness and

whenever that happens...

there is always

a violent uproar.

There were some who would try to

discredit my observations

because I was a young,

untrained girl and should,

therefore, be disregarded.

The result of it all, however,

was that Louis was able

to obtain a grant from the

National Geographic Society

to continue my study.

In addition, they would be

sending out a photographer

to document the chimpanzees.

Hi, I'm Jane.

-Hugo

Jane, for someone who

enjoyed your solitude,

were you concerned

about bringing another

person into your...

-Yeah.

No, I wasn't

particularly happy, but

it was part of the deal.

Geographic funds you.

They must cover the research.

It was my project.

And he came to, you know,

document my project.

And I just didn't want

anybody coming into

my little paradise.

What were your

first impressions of Hugo?

-Well, Hugo smoked.

He almost chained smoked.

And all the butts on

the floor, oh I have

always hated smoking.

And he was a perfectionist.

It drove me nuts.

But at the same time, you know,

he was a nice looking guy and

his voice was quiet.

-The first evening Hugo

spent telling me about the

films that he'd made and his

childhood and how he

had always wanted to

photograph animals.

So we had a lot in common.

And I think it was pretty

obvious to me right from the

start that I was a subject of

interest as well as the chimps.

One day we were greeted

with fantastic news.

A chimp had crept into

my tent and had taken some

bananas left from my supper.

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