Primatologist Jane Goodall said the reason for the coronavirus pandemic is humanity has “little respect” for nature.
Goodall made her comments in an interview with Newsweek posted Wednesday.
“We must stop talking about everything as it benefits us and start realizing that the reason for this pandemic now is because we have shown so little respect for the natural world with destroying more and more forest and animal species being pushed together,” she said.
“Viruses spilling over from one species to another, which normally wouldn't (happen), animals pushed into closer contact with people (farming) for example, another opportunity for spillover of viruses — and then of course, the animal trafficking and export and the number of animals that are being sold in these so-called wet markets in Asia, but also the bush meat in Africa.
“These viruses have been predicted for many years, and (written about) in the book “Spillover” by David Quin. People haven't listened; they haven't learned from the last SARS epidemic.”
Still there is some hope in what people are having to go through now, she said.
“The silver lining is that many people for the first time ever have breathed clean air because with the shutdown of some of the big businesses the air has become cleaner in places like Mumbai and Beijing,” Goodall said.
And she noted the hope is people will realize what they’ve been missing.”
Goodall, 86, is best known for her work with primates, including a 60-year study of interactions among chimpanzees in Tanzania, CNET reported.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.