THE MESSAGE SHE BROUGHT BACK FROM GORILLA COUNTRY
MUST HUMANS DESTROY EVERYTHING WE TOUCH?
Tarzan would have been impressed with Chris Chambers.
The petite green-eyed blonde animal activist
was exhausted and covered with mud after six-hours
climbing up the side of a steep volcanic mountain in
what is now known as Central Africa’s Republic of
the Congo. Like her five fellow safari members,
Chris’ mission was to experience up close
the kind of endangered primates that the
legendary Diane Fossey had spent a lifetime
studying and protecting. The jungle was so dense
that a guide with a machete had to hack the way.
Finally, they encountered a group of 28 gorillas
including a dominant “silverback”. “I had a feeling,”
she said joking, “that he didn’t appreciate blondes.
The British Airways customer-service agent
recalled that “It was the most incredible experience of my
life. I feel so proud that I was with mountain
gorillas. Just to be with them and touch them was an
amazing experience. They were so much like humans. You
look at them and wonder if they share the same kind of
thoughts that we have.” (The gorilla I drew nuzzling
Chris was based on photos she gave me.)
“Being with those animals was so intense.
My favorite was a young adult. When he grabbed
the strap to my backpack, we played
tug of war,” she said laughing. “He was so powerful.
I thought he was going to drag me off into the brush.
He held on until the guide shouted, ‘No!’
Like he understood, my playmate dropped the strap and
swaggered away. After he left, I sat there crying
realizing that these wild animals were so much like us.”
Here’s the philosophy Chris brought back to
civilization: “The problems we create
for ourselves seem almost ridiculous.
So Illogical! Life can be so beautiful and simple.
Yet we’re guilty of introducing deceit,
violence and greed into the World.
Animals have just as much right as humans to exist on Earth.
Why must we destroy or tarnish everything we touch,
including our own species?”
— Boots LeBaron —