“She’s a slender lady of medium height, not very stooped at all, considering she’s almost 90,” says Nicky Vernon of Dr Jane Goodall. “She’s a quiet presence, but so much bigger than her physical presence. There’s this huge gentle power around her. There’s quite an aura about her, I could feel her coming towards the dais before I saw her. She just has this extraordinary power, but in a very gentle, humble way.”
On Saturday 2 March, the world-renowned primatologist, ethologist and conservationist spoke to a small audience at the Farm Sanctuary SA in Franschhoek about her incredible life.
Vernon, of the Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary, told Hermanus Times: “I have always followed Jane Goodall. Her passion, her dedication and her endless patience in studying one particular species of wild animal, chimpanzees, has always fascinated me. Whenever a wildlife programme came on featuring her work I watched it, because I just couldn’t really fathom that level of total commitment.
“She achieved so much because she was so dedicated. She is a very smart woman who dedicated her whole life and all her skills to one particular species.
“She has probably done more than anybody else in the world to preserve them as a species.”
Goodall gave each chimpanzee that she studied a name, as opposed to numbers that had been used until then. She said it helped her recognise them and she related to them as individuals. So does Vernon, who knows each of the 230 animals on her farm by name.
“We are exactly on the same page in this respect; Jane sees every animal as a sentient being with a personality.”
The Farm Sanctuary SA, owned by Joanne Lefson, was home to Pigcasso, the world-famous painting pig.
“Joanne, and others like the owners of Esther the wonder pig, anthropomorphised these animals, so that the connection between human and animal can be made,” said Vernon. “They have done more to demolish the disconnect we have between the animals we have as pets and the animals we eat. It’s not my chosen course, but I don’t disapprove of it.
“I would never teach any of my animals on my farm to do tricks, and I know Jane feels much the same way.
“However, like me, she admires everything Joanne has done with Pigcasso, and it was her dream to meet him. Sadly, Pigcasso died two days before Jane arrived.”
Ever Bwailia, Vernon’s animal care manager, accompanied her to the event. “Ever came to me from the Sanctuary. He raised Pigcasso, so Joanne invited him with the intention of letting him say goodbye.
“Sadly, we were too late, but as VIPs we got a free signed copy of the book Joanne had written about Pigacasso, with a foreword by Jane.”
On whether she had got a chance to talk to Goodall she said: “We got to sit with her and have a short chat. For 90 she’s amazing, but I realised she was tired as she had been on the go the whole day. When I told her I had 144 pigs her eyes opened really wide. I thanked her for her work and for being such an inspiration.”
They also briefly discussed the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots humane education and youth empowerment programme, which Vernon hopes to connect to soon, so the children of the Greyton valley and surrounds have access to it.
Before leaving, Vernon told Goodall: “You are one of my inspirations. I am 70 next week, and whenever I feel as if I just can’t get out of bed at 06:30 in the morning to feed 230 animals I think of you. She gave me a lovely squeeze and said ‘I am so glad.’”
