A Lesson to be Learned from Chimpanzees

In RadioLab’s story of Lucy, they describe the amazing capabilities of chimpanzees. It talks about the borders between humans and chimps being dropped, and focusing more on the similarities. Maurice Temerlin wrote a book called Lucy Growing Up Human, and it describes the story of Lucy, who was raised from a baby by a psychotherapist and a social worker. She was capable of normal human activities and at one point became too strong for her ‘parents’ to handle. She was then released into the wild, where for years she struggled to adapt. She sat along Janis Carter where she, Lucy, wanted nothing to do with being outside. “Lucy was no longer a chimp. She was stranded,” says the reporter telling her story. Later, she found herself able to survive in the wild, but is probable that she was poached because of her friendliness.

Lucy was raised like a human, and so she became. Lucy was a product of her environment. As a baby, Lucy could hold her own bottle. As a child, she learned to sit at the table, eat with silverware, dress herself, lie, and she was even potty trained. Growing older, Lucy learned to sign and communicate with her parents and those around her, make tea for guests, read magazines, and comfort those who were sad. Lucy was capable of tasting things like watermelon, and when she didn’t know the word, she could describe it like “candy drink.” After ten years, Lucy was attracted to humans, acted like a human, participated in human activities and was treated like a human. When this changed, Lucy was lost. Going out into the wild, Lucy could hardly survive. She became sick and very stressed, while Janis Carter, the woman who Lucy’s human parents turned her over to in Senegal, stood by her side, and helped her to adapt.  Because human was all she’d ever known, Lucy struggled to adapt to a chimpanzee’s natural habitat. Janis describes her presence as “distracting them from being chimps.” Lucy was a chimp, but it took her years to act like one, because she was so used to a human environment. After Janis left, and Lucy was probably poached, Janis started working in Gambia to protect chimps.

Chimpanzees are highly intelligent, and are often underestimated and unappreciated. They are poached, without care and are treated as if far from humans-which they actually aren’t. One thing that can be learned from Lucy is an appreciation for other species, and the understanding that humans should not treat themselves as superior figures. One thing I will be taking away from this broadcast is just a greater appreciation for chimpanzees and their great mind capacity and ability. Another thing is just how quickly a species can adapt- a component part of evolution. If there is one lesson to be learned from Lucy’s story, it is that humans underestimate and are unappreciative of the amazing world and species around them.

To listen to this story, please go to: http://www.radiolab.org/popup_player/#