December
1996
Not
Waving but Drowning
A True Story by Jane Goodall
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Jane Goodall,
the world-famous primatologist who conducted the longest
field study of animals when she studied the chimpanzees of
Gombe, Tanzania, told this story at the World Conference
for Animals in Washington this past June.
This is a true story. It happened about six or seven years ago, in
North America. It's about a chimpanzee called Joe-Joe who was born
in Africa and came over as a two-year-old with a female, Suzy. They
lived for a while in a cold square cage in a zoo. Joe-Joe lived for
eight or nine years alone in this bleak little prison. Then the zoo
raised enough money to build a huge enclosure and they bought 19 other
chimpanzees from different parts. The zoo wanted the biggest and best
enclosure in North America. They introduced the chimps to each other
and they surrounded the enclosure with a moat filled with water because
chimps don't swim.
One day they let them out. After a while a fight broke out, and Joe-Joe,
the oldest male, was challenged by one of the new young males. Of course,
Joe-Joe lost the fight. What did he know about fighting? He had lived
all those years alone. In his fear, Joe-Joe ran into the water. What
did he know about water? It was something that he drank from a cup.
He was so frightened, he scrambled over the safety barrier and disappeared
into the deep water beyond. He came up three times, flustering for
air; and then he was gone. On the other side of the moat was a small
group of people. It was rainy and cold, and there was a keeper there.
Luckily for Joe-Joe, however, there was a visitor watching: Rick Swope.
Rick jumped in, despite the keeper actually physically grabbing onto
him and telling him that it was dangerous and he'd probably get killed.
Poor guy, he had to swim under the water - it was murky from the rain
and he couldn't see - until he felt Joe-Joe's inert body (which weighed
130 pounds). He didn't know if he was alive but he put the body over
his shoulder. He scrambled over that safety barrier and he pushed Joe-Joe
up onto the bank.
There was a woman there with a video camera and she went on filming
even though she didn't know she was doing it. So you actually hear
and see what happened and as Rick turned to go back to his slightly
hysterical family, you hear them calling at him. You hear his wife
and the kids calling "Daddy" and "Rick!" And the keeper is yelling, "Run!
Run! Come back quickly!" For charging down towards Rick, down the steep
bank, are three fully adult males with hair bristling and teeth showing
- probably coming to rescue Joe-Joe from Rick. At the same time, Joe-Joe
is sliding back down the bank which has been built too steep.
The camera stays - amazingly - on Rick. He stands and looks towards
his family; he looks up at the chimps looking enormous above him; and
he looks down at where Joe-Joe is disappearing under the water. And
Rick goes back into the water and he holds Joe-Joe up and the chimpanzees,
four adult males, stop to watch. After a while, Joe-Joe raises his
head and the water comes from his mouth and then he takes a few tottery
steps around where the ground is level. There is no question that Rick
saved Joe-Joe's life.
That evening that little piece of video was flashed across North America
and the director of my institute called Rick up and said, "Mr. Swope,
that was a tremendously brave thing you did. I really want to congratulate
you. But, why did you do it?" And Rick said, "Well, I just happened
to look into his eyes and it was like looking into the eyes of a man
and the message was: 'Won't anybody help me?' "
If we look around, we see that look in the eyes of so many suffering
animals, and people too - suffering in the eyes of those less fortunate
than ourselves. Albert Schweitzer summed up exactly what it is all
about: for all animals who are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all the beautiful creatures in captivity that beat their wings
against bars; for any that are hunted, lost or deserted or frightened
or hungry; for all who must be put to death and for those who deal
with them; for all these we offer help, compassion, a gentle hand and
kindly words.
For more information on the work of Jane Goodall and the various organizations
she has established on behalf of chimpanzees, contact: The Jane Goodall
Institute, P.O. Box 599, Ridgefield, CT 06877. Fax: 203-431-4387; Tel.:
203-431-2099 or 800-592-JANE. E-mail: JaneGoodall@wcsu.ctsateu.edu or
check out her website at:http://www.wcsu.ctstate.edu/cyberchimp/
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