Some people become so involved with working with animals that the whole world sits up to take notice. Could you be next?
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Goodall became passionate about working with animals after receiving a lifelike toy of a chimpanzee from her father. Jubilee - who still sits on her dresser in London - wasn’t an initial hit in the Goodall family, with Jane’s mother reportedly being horrified by the toy. " She thought it would frighten me and give me nightmares,†said Jane.
In 1957, Jane began working with animals after visiting a friend’s farm in Kenya.
Goodall quickly became known for her work with chimpanzees, affectionately referring to them by pet names such as “Fifi†and “David Greybeardâ€. She observed them to have individual and unique personalities, a theory that was held under much scrutiny at the time. However. Goodall’s dedication and intense study of chimpanzees has contributed to scientific and psychological study all over the world. Goodall’s findings became a heavy influencer of “Attachment Theoryâ€, one of the staples of child psychology that is still used today. Goodall, now in her seventies, remains an active participant in animal conservation activities and was named a Dame in 2004.
Goodall quickly became known for her work with chimpanzees, affectionately referring to them by pet names such as “Fifi†and “David Greybeardâ€. She observed them to have individual and unique personalities, a theory that was held under much scrutiny at the time. However. Goodall’s dedication and intense study of chimpanzees has contributed to scientific and psychological study all over the world. Goodall’s findings became a heavy influencer of “Attachment Theoryâ€, one of the staples of child psychology that is still used today. Goodall, now in her seventies, remains an active participant in animal conservation activities and was named a Dame in 2004.
David Attenborough
Perhaps one of the most famous names in animal broadcasting, David Attenborough has almost single-handedly turned wildlife education into mainstream entertainment. No mean feat for a man who began his career editing children’s science textbooks. Attenborough first began working with animals when filming a series on elephants in Tanzania for the BBC. In 1965, he became controller of the then fledgling BBC2, a channel that was being written up as a failure after it had failed to capture the attention of the nation. Attenborough famously shook up the channel’s reputation to include “riskier†programming, even commissioning Monty Python’s Flying Circus during his tenure. In 1979, Attenborough filmed the seminal Life on Earth, where scientific communities around the world allowed him to film them working with animals. Attenborough’s series for the BBC remain huge hits to this day.
Timothy Treadwell
Timothy Treadwell was an American environmentalist, eco-warrior and documentary filmmaker who famously lived among grizzly bears during summer seasons for 13 years. Unlike Goodall and Attenborough, Treadwell began his passion later in life. After suffering a near-fatal overdose in the late eighties, Treadwell was urged by a friend to find inspiration in watching Alaskan bears. Convinced he had found his calling, Treadwell spent the remainder of his life protecting the natural habitat of bears all over the United States. Tragically, Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were attacked by bears in October 2003. Treadwell’s story was later turned into a documentary directed by Werner Herzog.
