The Celebrated primatologist, Dr. Jane Goodall, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace was most notable among those who received awards for outstanding service in building African capacity in primate research and conservation.
The 85-year-old Doyen of primates who have dedicated over half a century to primatology research received an award at the evening dinner of day two held at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, Entebbe.
Although she was not physically present, Dr. Goodal had joined the conference at the opening ceremony the previous day via video link. She talked about her first years studying the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park in Tanzania. It was in her early days, after months of getting the chimps to accept her, that Dr. Jane Goodall discovered that chimps used tools. It was previously thought that only humans were able to use tools. She recalled being struck by how like humans the chimps were, in so many ways, and commented, “You can’t share your life with any animal and not know they have personalities.”
Other accolades received during the conference included: Best Oral Presentation awarded to Ramanankirahina Rindrahatsarana, for the presentation on Female dominance, affiliation, and aggression in western woolly lemurs, best Poster Presentation awarded to Jonathan A Musa for his poster on Population Estimates of Diurnal Primates on Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Sierra Leone, for outstanding service in building African capacity in primate research and conservation, the following awards were presented:
Professor Vernon Reynolds, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, UK, Professor John Oates, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Hunter College, New York, USA, Prof Jonah Ratsimbazafy, President of the Madagascar Primate Research Group (GERP), Professor Isabirye Basuta, retired Professor from Makerere University Department of Zoology who has trained most of the primatologists in Uganda Dr. Russ Mittermeier, APS Patron and Chief Conservation Officer at Global Wildlife Conservation, was presented with an award for outstanding commitment and support in building African Leadership in Primatology.
