Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall is a British anthropologist and biologist specialising in ethology and primatology. Goodall is best known for her studies of chimpanzee social and family life in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania beginning in 1960. She is founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the youth program Roots & Shoots.
Several years ago we contacted the Jane Goodall Institute after a lecture in The Hague. This led to a special meeting with Jane Goodall herself. This contact led to a collaboration with Dierenkliniek Breda: together we provide contraceptive implants for the chimpanzees on Ngamba Island in Uganda.
Because these chimpanzees cannot be returned to the wild, contraception is necessary to prevent overpopulation. Dierenkliniek Breda sponsors half of the costs and Wings for Animals the other half. We also make sure that the implants are delivered personally and on time by a volunteer, who in return gets a tour of the island.
Several years later, we got to meet Jane Goodall again, this time in South Africa, on her birthday. This took place at Joanne Lefson’s Farm Sanctuary, where Jane was present for a lecture and signing of Joanne’s book about the famous pig Pigcasso (for which Jane had written the foreword). Pigcasso, known for his paintings exhibited worldwide, had since sadly passed away, so Jane was never able to meet him again.
Tijdens dit bijzondere bezoek konden wij Jane een cheque aanbieden voor de implantaten op Ngamba Island – een traditie die wij sindsdien jaarlijks voortzetten. Het blijft voor ons een eer om deze unieke samenwerking te ondersteunen en in contact te zijn met een icoon als Jane Goodall.
