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Chimp expert set to appear
By BARBARA BEHRENDT © St. Petersburg Times, published October 8, 2000 HOMOSASSA SPRINGS -- World-renowned biologist and chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall is scheduled to stop in the area later this month and share her message of wildlife conservation. Goodall, best known for her long-term chimp study in Africa, will visit Oct. 27 so she can see the manatee program at the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park and hold a news conference to discuss a youth education program, "Roots & Shoots," that her Jane Goodall Institute is sponsoring. The visit will be part of the weeklong Roots & Shoots 2000 Youth Summit, which will be based in Pasco County. Students from throughout the United States who have completed environment-related projects will attend the summit and stay at Camp Indian Echo at Shady Hills. Founded in 1991, the Roots & Shoots program is held in 50 countries worldwide and in nearly every state in the United States. The project allows students from preschool to college to do projects that promote care and concern for the environment, animals and human communities, according to the institute's Web page. The Florida coordinator for Roots & Shoots is Johnell Hankins, a Hudson Middle School science teacher. She has been involved in the program for several years and hopes to interest Citrus County educators in starting a group. The program gives children a chance to interact closely with Goodall, who will participate in this year's summit from Oct. 25 through 29. The students will be presenting Goodall with their projects during that time. "This is such a wonderful experience for the kids and the close interaction they get with Jane Goodall is wonderful," Hankins said. "She's unbelievable, very approachable. She's always hugging the kids." Goodall, 66, is a London native who was interested in animals ever since she was a child. She first visited Africa when she was 23 and made a special effort to make an appointment to meet acclaimed anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey, who hired her as his assistant. Leaky thought Goodall would be the right person to do a study he had planned of chimpanzees. She began that landmark study in 1960 in the Gombe National Park in what is now Tanzania. Among her findings, Goodall identified individual chimps, observed their different personalities and learned that they showed behaviors and emotions once thought to be found only in humans. For example, she learned for the first time that the animals use tools, a characteristic previously thought to be strictly a human trait, and her observations proved that chimps hunt for meat. Study of the chimps at Gombe continues today. - Information from Times files was used in this report. To learn more:For more information, the Jane Goodall Institute's Web site can be found at: http://www.janegoodall.org/
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