Growing up I
definitely wasn’t the type of girl to idolise popstars or other typical teen
icons. Instead my heroes were a chimpanzee chaser and a naturalist.
Jane Goodall and
David Attenborough have long inspired me and helped push me in the direction of
my dreams, never more so than when I was lucky enough to meet Jane for the
second time in my life earlier this month.
Having spent most
of my childhood fascinated by primates it was only natural that I should find
the story of a young woman who went to live among the chimpanzees on unknown
shores an incredible and inspiring one. As a little girl I used to arrange my
toy primates around the garden and pretend I was exploring a distant jungle
like Jane, the Queen of Chimpanzee Chasers.
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| Copyright: CBS/Landov |
Reading about
Jane’s time with the chimpanzees of Gombe was what made me so determined to study
chimpanzees in the wild, an ambition that eventually led to my time
chasing chimpanzees in Semliki – an experience even more amazing than I’d ever
imagined.
Having returned
from my first (but hopefully not my last) chimpanzee chasing adventure I was
lucky enough to be presented with the opportunity to hear Jane talk as part of
a Personal Histories Project lecture at Cambridge University in April 2011 and of
course I jumped at this chance (though not literally as I was on crutches due
to a rugby injury at the time!)
While having a
leg in cast made getting into the lecture theatre with its steep-stepped access
a challenge, it did mean I was able to sit at the very front, just metres away
from my chimpanzee-chasing idol. I spent the entire talk competely in awe of
this woman who had done so much for the field of primatology; the woman who had
forced us to redefine what we consider human, and who with her conservation
work continues to challenge the way we look at the world around us.
I left Jane’s
talk more determined than ever to pursue a career revealing Nature’s incredible
stories to the world and the proud owner of a copy of one of Jane’s books
bearing her thumbprint. A wrist injury meant that Jane couldn’t sign anything,
but I for one thought that the thumbprint of the Queen of Chimpanzee Chasers
was a pretty unique and incredible gift.
Having treasured
my book bearing Jane’s thumprint for over a year I found myself clutching it to
my chest as I raced up five flights of stairs this October. I was volunteering
at the Wildscreen Film Festival in Bristol where Jane had just given a talk and
was desperate for a chance to speak to Jane and ask her to sign my book. I had
just ten minutes to spare between clearing up at the venue I was working in and
setting up for the next event and so sprinted to the building where Jane was
signing books and up the seemingly never-ending staircase.
I think mainly
because I looked so out of breath and anxious to talk to her Jane was kind
enough to patiently listen to me nervously blurt out something about having
studied chimpanzees at Semliki while she offered to add something to my book. I
was so pleased to get to talk to her and in such a hurry to get back to work
that I thanked Jane and left without getting a look at what she’d written. It
was only later that day having finished work that I managed to get a proper
look at the message Jane had written next to her thumbprint. When I did it made
me cry.
To have someone who had I had idolised since I was a little girl write such an inspirational message to me was very touching and a huge motivation. I certainly intend to follow the wise words of the Queen of Chimpanzee Chasers.
