I was even accused of teaching the chimps how to fish for termites which I mean that would have been such a brilliant coup.

Of course we're all programmed genetically to some extent. But the "selfish gene" thesis doesn't explain everything.

When I began in 1960, individuality wasn't an accepted thing to look for; it was about species-specific behaviour. But animal behaviour is not hard science. There's room for intuition.

We seem to have lost the wisdom of the indigenous people, which dictated that in any major decision, the first consideration was 'How will this decision we're making today affect our people in the future? These days, decisions are made based on the bottom line.

As a child, we couldn't afford holidays overseas, so instead I travelled through books. I was inspired by Dr Dolittle and Tarzan.

One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.

Well, in some ways we're not successful at all. We're destroying our home. That's not a bit successful.