WEBVTT

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I don't believe that human beings are
more intelligent than other animals.

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There's a really straightforward way
on how we should measure intelligence,

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by how well a specific animal species has
adapted to its own environment.

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So, there's no real way to compare
intelligence across different species,

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we're all just adapted to our own environments.

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Just as a dolphin may be ill equipped to 
live and function in the human world,

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humans would probably be considered stupid
and ill adapted in the dolphin world.

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We should treat animals as our equals

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and as much we should preserve their habitats
and numbers in the wild.

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In our current society, we have a total disregard
for many animals and their habitats,

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which has left many species critically endangered.

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Does it show we're less intelligent
because we're destroying our own habitat?

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I probably wouldn't like to say.

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I study communication in animals and particularly great apes.

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You better understand that the skills that are critical to the

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evolution of modern human speech,

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great apes might hold the clues for us to understand

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how modern humans communicated
before we developed our verbal speech.

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The best way to understand this is to look at our closest living relatives,

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which are great apes.

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Crucially, I tried not to project our own

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human communication skills upon other animals,

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but rather work out their own communication strategies.

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Well, we might be at the top of the food chain,

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due to our ability to manipulate our environment,

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and therefore, like to manufacture weapons.

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We don't use these abilities responsibly or intelligently.

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This puts us at the top of the chain for destroying our planet.

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Our human lifestyle habits cause more destruction
to other species and habitats, globally.

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I believe that we are all here sharing the same planet,

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we should find a way to co-exist.

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But, some people may think it's controversial to eat meat,

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or to breed animals for whatever purpose.

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This is a food chain and this is how our planet is.

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We've biologically evolved to eat meat,
and it's one of the things

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that scientists believe may be partially responsible
for our large brains.

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Working with great apes is an amazing experience.

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There are some gorillas who are going to befriend you

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and others who will not care for you, really.

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That's because they're all individuals and have different personalities.

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In any case, when coming in, observing them week upon week,

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I formed a relationship with one female gorilla called Emmy.

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She used to sit with us and she would look at you through the glass

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and she'd make faces, she'd get as close to you as she could.

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I became pregnant with my second child
and her behaviour began to change

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I couldn't work out what it was,
but she started to become more aggressive towards me.

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As my bump began to grow,

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rather than following us around and being really lovely and gentle,

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she started collecting rocks and sticks and hurling them at me.

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Very premeditated behavior, very intelligent behaviour,
 very thoughtful behaviour.

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You can see her choose her weapons and take action.

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Working with great apes is an amazing experience.

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We look at humans as special,

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for many years we thought that we were the only ones

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who could use tools, who could hunt co-cooperatively,

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or could even communicate with underlying structures.

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Time and time again, we're being proven wrong