Jane Goodall

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They're helpful, by and large, but on the other hand, very few accurately portray what's really happening. They come in two kinds: One is all doom and gloom, which people don't want to watch, and the other portrays animals living their own sweet little natural lives. The best approach would combine both views and stress what people can do to help.

Speaking of television, you were in a lighthearted commercial a few years back co-starring chimps watching TV.

Yes. I was reluctant at first, but the chimps only had to be interfered with long enough to catch them on film. What's more, the commercial didn't feature the cute and cuddly baby chimps you usually see on TV, a practice that bolsters the pet trade, which is horrendous. You got Frodo, our biggest male ever, and no one would want him in their living room.

How do chimps really react to TV?

We'd never show wild chimps television, but captive chimps love it, of course. They love the films about the Gombe chimps. If the chimps on the screen are excited, the chimps watching get excited too.

How do chimpanzees communicate?

They have a large repertoire of sounds, each with a different meaning. These sounds are not words, but they do communicate emotions: An appeal for help. An indication of danger. Hello. Here I am. Where are you? Listening. Anger. Fear. They also rely on a rich repertoire of touch and posture and gesture--embracing, patting on the back, kissing, holding hands, swaggering, tickling, punching--very much as we do. And among both chimps and humans, it seems, these gestures are triggered by the same kinds of contact and mean more or less the same thing.

Do chimps make music?

In the wild, they drum on tree trunks, which can't be very satisfactory because it doesn't really sound like much except from a distance. Chimps also display a rhythmic movement that's almost like dancing--a swaying from foot to foot that can be very majestic and beautiful. When they're lying down for the night, they may start calling on one side of the valley and the sounds will be taken up by chimps on the other side. But that's the closest they come to music.

You've done some chat room conferences on the Web.

Yes. I've done one or two of those, but they're not direct enough for me. These disembodied questions come in, and I don't like it. I prefer lectures.

How has fame affected your life?

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