English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall passed away at the age of 91 on October 1, 2025. Having conducted research and fieldwork for more than six decades on the social and family life of wild chimpanzees in the Kasakela chimpanzee community at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, she has earned the description in many publications as "the world's preeminent chimpanzee expert." Her views on the behavior of chimpanzees in their environment and social circles extend beyond the world of chimpanzees, inspiring ideas about animal intelligence in general. In that light, we'd like to underline a few words that Jane Goodall had said herself regarding animal intelligence, which is currently accessible through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website:
Today, we're leaving a flawed world for our children. This is where I come to the biggest difference between humans and other animals. We know today that animals are way more intelligent than we used to think—and not just the great apes. We now know that pigs are very intelligent. Birds are very intelligent, particularly crows and parrots. I know a parrot who knows 1,500 words, and a word is only counted in his vocabulary if he has said it twice, unprompted, in the right context.
. . .
An experiment was conducted in China in which three goldfish were placed on one side of the tank and three on the other side, and they learned to play football! Bumblebees can be taught to drop a little marble into a hole, and then they get a nectar reward. Other bumblebees, who have not been trained, can do the same simply by watching the trained bumblebees. And we know the amazing intelligence of the octopus. So yes, animals are very intelligent.
Some of our teens at the Mid-Valley Regional Branch—through the art of collage and light humor—took a few moments to reflect on the idea of animal intelligence and their thought process. We'd like to share a few submissions here.
Books Related to Animal Intelligence and Jane Goodall
- Animal Intelligence: From Individual to Social Cognition
- A Year With the Seals: Unlocking the Secrets of the Sea's Most Charismatic and Controversial Creatures
- If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity
- Inside Animal Hearts and Minds: Bears That Count, Goats That Surf, and Other True Stories of Animal Intelligence and Emotion
- The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
- Jane Goodall: 40 Years at Gombe: A Tribute to Four Decades of Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation
- Jane Goodall: The Woman who Redefined Man
- Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species are Being Rescued From the Brink
- Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters