re: Legendary primate expert Jane Goodall passes away at 91

RIP Jane Goodall, she was a great one.

Let me throw out a name that few will recognize, but he was in the same league as Jane Goodall. Hopefully, some day a movie or book will be made about him.

Ted Parker.



For Ornithologists the guy is legendary. Possibly the greatest ever, though he never had an advanced degree.

quote:

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He "was widely considered the finest field birder / ornithologist that the world had ever seen."

In 1971 he broke the North American Big Year record (seeing more species of birds in a year than anyone before). In that year he enrolled at the University of Arizona and began to accompany ornithological expeditions to South America, particularly with Louisiana State University. He moved to Baton Rouge and was associated with LSU for the rest of his life (becoming a fanatical supporter of LSU basketball). He supported himself by leading birding tours, especially for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, until the last few years of his life, when he went to work for Conservation International. He was killed in a plane crash in Ecuador while surveying a cloud forest; he was 40 years old.

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LSU has a very strong Ornithology department, they are still finding new species and are in the top few programs in the world.

Fossey was "Gorilla lady" Goodall was chimps. Both were really fascinating.

Chimp lives matter!