Do chimps have the same emotions as us? 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam.

Having your photograph appear on the

cover of a magazine makes

you famous around the

world. But imagine if that photo showed

you hugging and playing

with wild chimpanzees!

That's exactly what happened to

Jane Goodall who shot to fame

in 1965 when she appeared

on the cover of National Geographic

magazine. Jane introduced

the world to the social and

emotional lives of the wild chimpanzees

of Gombe, in eastern Tanzania.

Jane spent years living among families

of wild chimpanzees.

Her observations changed

the way we view our closest animal

relatives - and made us think

about what it means to

be human.

In this programme, we'll be hearing from

the iconic environmentalist,

Jane Goodall. She

reflects on how attitudes have changed

as science has

uncovered the deep connections

between humans and the great apes -

large primates including

chimpanzees, gorillas and

orang-utans, who are closely

related to humans.

And of course we'll be learning some

related vocabulary along the way.

As well as Dr Goodall, the National

Geographic photographs also

made the chimpanzees of Gombe

famous. People around the world became

interested in the lives

of a family of chimps living

in a remote corner of Africa.

When Gombe's alpha female died in 1972,

she was so well-loved that

she had an obituary

in The Times newspaper. But what was

her name? That's our

quiz question: which chimpanzee's

obituary appeared in The Times?

Was it: a) Frodo?, b Flo?, or c) Freud?

Well, 1972 is a bit before my time, Rob - I

wasn't even born then, but I think it's b)

Flo.

OK, Sam, we'll find out later

if you were right. Now, when

Jane first visited Tanzania

in the 1960s most scientists believed the

only animals capable

of making and using tools

were humans. But what Jane witnessed

about the behaviour

of one chimpanzee, who she named

Greybeard, turned this idea on its head.

Here she recalls that famous

day to Jim Al Khalili,

for the podcast of BBC Radio 4's

Discovery programme, The Life Scientific:

I could see this black hand picking grass

stems and pushing them

down into the termite

mound and pulling them out with termites

clinging on with their jaws.

And the following day,

I saw him pick a leafy twig and strip the

leaves, so not only was

he using objects as

tools but modifying those

objects to make tools.

Jane observed the chimpanzee,

Greybeard, finding small wooden

branches called twigs and modifying

them - changing them slightly

in order to improve them.

By stripping away the leaves from twigs

and using them to collect

ants and termites to

eat, Greybeard had made a tool - an

instruments or simple piece of

equipment, for example

a knife or hammer, that you hold in your

hands and use for a particular job.

Previously, it was believed that animals

were incapable of making

tools on their own. What

Jane saw was proof of the intelligence

of wild animals.

Jane Goodall's studies convinced her that

chimps experience the same

range of emotions

as humans, as she explains here to BBC

Radio 4's The Life Scientific:

I wasn't surprised that chimps had these

emotions. It was fascinating

to realise how many of

their gestures are like ours ... so you can

watch them without knowing

anything about

them and when they greet with

a kiss and embrace, they pat one

another in reassurance, they

hold hands, they seek physical contact

to alleviate nervousness

or stress - you know,

it's so like us.

Holding hands, embracing and kissing

were some of the chimpanzee's

gestures - movements

made with hands, arms or head, to

express ideas and feelings.

In the same way as humans, the

chimpanzees would pat each

other - touch someone gently

and repeatedly with their hand held flat.

Much of their behaviour was human-like.

Just as I would hug a friend

to reassure them,

the chimps used physical contact to

alleviate stress - make pain

or problems less intense

or severe. In fact, chimps are

so alike us that sometimes

they even get their name in the newspaper!

Ah yes, Sam, you mean the quiz question

I asked you earlier: which

chimpanzee had their

obituary published in The Times?

And I guessed it was b) Flo.

And that's absolutely right. Well done,

Sam! Give yourself a pat on the back!

OK. In this programme, we've been

hearing about legendary

zoologist and activist, Jane

Goodall, and her experiences living

among great apes - primates like

chimpanzees who

are humans - closest animal relatives.

Jane witnessed the chimpanzees of

Gombe modify - or slightly alter,

objects like leaves and

twigs to make tools - hand-held

instruments used for a particular job.

Many of the chimpanzees gestures - body

movements made to communicate

and express emotions - like

kissing and patting - touching someone

gently and repeatedly with

a flat hand - were almost

human.

And just like us, the chimps sought

physical contact to

alleviate - or reduce the severity

of, nervousness and stress.

That's all for this programme.

Bye for now!

Bye bye!