One should not conclude, however, that the chimpanzee is almost human. Like a lot of other animals the chimpanzee responds to its surroundings. It can observe that certain actions produce certain results. By repetition it can be taught that by going through certain motions, certain results can regularly be attained. Thus it can learn to perform many routine actions. But it cannot reason like a human. It cannot discern principles of operation and then apply such in other fields of endeavor. And most certainly it cannot apply moral principles.

Dr. Goodall was recently interviewed by WWF News (World Wildlife Fund) and she said that studying chimps ‘has helped her to realize, perhaps more than anything else, just how different we are from them.’ When asked to be specific, she said: “Humans have more sympathy. In the chimp you have sympathy between a mother and a child but you seldom find it anywhere else. Sympathy is a very, very human characteristic.”