The Humanity of All Animals

Have you ever wanted to be a chimpanzee? Watching the movie Chimpanzee by Disney, makes me wonder what it would be like to be one. Following a baby chimp named Oscar, the movie shows the life of a family. Imagine being able to climb the tallest trees and swinging at will. Oscar is so tiny he can easily swing himself onto his mother's back for a ride. The inner workings of a chimp was first researched by Jane Goodall. I remember watching a 60 Minutes story about how she was able to live with them and become somewhat of a surrogate mother. I have a fascination with animals, and if it was not for my hate for biology and other sciences I would have become a zoologist or vet. I would love to be able to work with chimps, orangutans, elephants, tiger, lions, any animal. My dream is to go to Africa to cover a story for National Geographic. 
The movie explores the rivalry amongst the male in the family. I first discovered the volatile nature of these animals when reading, Zoo Story by Thomas French. In the zoo a younger chimp attacks a beloved older chimp to become the alpha male of the zoo, almost killing him. The book taught me tremendously new things about animal not only about Chimps but elephants, tigers and more. Like Zoo Story, Chimpanzees, provides so many new lessons, like how chimps eat monkeys when food is low. Despite my knowledge of the circle of life and being a carnivore myself, whenever I see another animal or a human kill an animal it breaks my heart. I climb into cages at work to calm a scared dog down or just provide company. Because of this compassion, watching Oscar search for his mother, unaware of her death, makes me want to hold him, makes me want to become his surrogate mother like Jane Goodall once did. 
Animals have such freedom. There are utterly fascinating. It is easy to see the humanity in all animals. Seeing the suffering of animals sparks a protectiveness in me. I once became so angry I threw a highlighter at my roommate because instead of symbolically adopting a panda from World Wildlife Fund, she wanted me to get her a real panda. That night I was entranced by the stories of endangered animals on the website. Images of skin, the only thing left of a dead elephant are ingrained in my mind. To this day, people still kill elephants for ivory. Did you know when elephants are attacked they are able to make a deep call only other elephants can here to warn others miles away not to come near?

As I think about my future, I am more and more drawn to working with animals with my journalism degree. I hope to work at National Geographic, World Wildlife Fund or National Wildlife Federation. There are so many endangered animals in the world and we, as humans, need to help keep these animals around. Whether it be polar bears and global warming or the senseless killing of exotic animals for human greed, animals need protection. In my attempt to bring awareness to the world, I will be starting to write more about different animal stories and the links between all animals. If you have not seen the movie Chimpanzee I highly suggest it. There is nothing cuter than watching Oscar try to open a nut with a stick - perplexed as to why the stick will not hit the nut. See the humanity in his eyes when he is all alone. Find an appreciation for the other truly amazing animals on this planet.

 I believe in exactly what Jane Goodall said, The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves." Finishing my "into" into animals I so deeply love, I leave you with another quote by Jane Goodall to ponder upon, "And if we dare to look into those eyes, then we shall feel their suffering in our hearts. More and more people have seen that appeal and felt it in their hearts. All around the world there is an awakening of understanding and compassion, and understanding that reaches out to help the suffering animals in their vanishing homelands. That embraces hungry, sick and desperate human beings, people who are one starving while the fortunate among us have so much more than we need. And if, one by one, we help the, m the hurting animals, the desperate humans, then together we shall alleviate so much of the hunger, fear and pain in the world. Together we can bring change to the world, gradually replacing fear and hatred with compassion and love. Love for all living beings."