Comedian and animal rights campaigner Ricky Gervais is among the first recipients of an award in honour of the late environmental activist Dame Jane Goodall.
Dame Jane, who was a world-leading expert on chimpanzee behaviour, died in October at the age of 91 and the prize has been set up to commemorate her lifetime of work.
Actor Peter Egan and wildlife activists Dr Jill Robinson were the other recipients of the Jane Goodall Hope Awards, which recognise recipients for their passion, courage and dedication which is transforming the future for animals, people and the planet.
Saving The Broken Bears of Vietnam’s Last Bile Farms Gervais, age 64, is famous for his stand-up career and co-creating, co-writing and starring in BBC sitcoms The Office, Extras and Life’s Too Short with Stephen Merchant.
He is also an activist and philanthropist who has raised awareness for environmental causes and animal rights, having recently donated almost AED10m to animal charities from his Mortality stand-up tour.
During his acceptance speech, Gervais said, ‘Anything connected with Jane’s name is amazing, but the greater the honour, the more embarrassed I am to receive it. Because I know there are people who do so much more, you know?
‘I do a bit. I tweet, I sign petitions, I give a bit of cash. What I don’t do is go and live with chimps for 40 years.
‘People who help animals are the best people.’
Actor and activist Peter Egan, who stars in TV show Downton Abbey, is an ambassador and a patron for animal welfare charities including Animals Asia, All Dogs Matter and Change For Animals. He is also an advocate for veganism.
The final recipient of the prize was Robinson, who is the founder and CEO of charity Animals Asia.
She was recognised at the ceremony for her activism, which has seen her spend 30 years campaigning to abolish the practice of bear bile farming – which entails extracting the substance from live bears for use in traditional medicine.
Robinson said she was ‘deeply honoured’ to receive the award in honour of Dame Jane, who she called a ‘dear friend and mentor’.
She said: ‘Jane changed the world by showing us that animals think and feel – and that understanding them changes everything about how we protect them. But despite her enormous influence and legacy, Jane remained generous with her time, endlessly kind and had this rare gift of making you feel as though you had made a friend for life.
‘Jane always carried the banner of hope and reminded us that if we want to heal this suffering world, we must never stop believing that change is possible.”
The event at the Peninsula London was hosted by actor James Nesbitt and also featured special appearances from HRH William Prince of Wales and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, who featured in pre-recorded videos.
Dame Jane, whose research on chimpanzees was the longest field study ever undertaken of any group of animals in the wild, began her studies in Tanzania in 1960.
In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to protect chimpanzees and supports youth projects aimed at benefiting animals.
Jane Goodall Day has been officially announced as April 3rd, on what would have been her 92nd birthday. This commemorative day will take place annually and will celebrate the global icon in true Jane fashion: by resolutely continuing her mission of inspiring hope and transforming it into action.
