Jane Goodall

Orangutans -- those tree-living apes with the flashy red manes -- have distinct cultures that dictate how they build their nests, use tools, eat, show off for each other and even how they say good night, according to a study being published today. The study, in today's issue of Science, says that three decades of observations by some of the world's leading experts shows orangutans behave along cultural patterns, an intellectual achievement previously thought to be reserved to humans and chimpanzees.

HELEN ELAINE FREEMAN, 75 Advocate for leopards Helen Elaine Freeman, known to many as "the Jane Goodall of snow leopards" for her advocacy on behalf of the increasingly rare central Asian big cats, died yesterday of lung disease, according to the International Snow Leopard Trust, which she founded in 1981 after becoming fascinated with two of the creatures at a zoo. She traveled to Asia, Europe and around the United States to drum up support for protecting...

A woman's effort to retire 142 Air Force "astrochimps" from research into AIDS and other diseases has gotten a $1 million boost.Officials from the American Anti-Vivisection Society recently announced that they would donate the money to the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care, headed by biological anthropologist Carole Noon in Boynton Beach, Fla."It brings us up over the laugh level," Noon said. "It legitimizes us."Her organization, which includes anthropologist Jane Goodall, is trying to raise $14 million to buy land and build a sanctuary to observe and monitor the chimps.

MOVE OVER, AMELIA Bedelia -- Westminster Baptist Church members recently took wordplay to new heights during their annual Mother Daughter Banquet.Using a pun-filled script created by church member Donna Gault, several women and men participated in a fashion show that would make Amelia Bedelia author Peggy Parish proud.With bouncy music in the background and Gault narrating, Terri McMichael was the first to step up on the platform, wearing a potato sack dress."Note Terri's necklace," Gault narrated.

Kari Mutscheller serves best off the courtKari Mutscheller hesitates for just a second when she hears the question: Is she a good tennis player with a mean volley?"

WESTMINSTER residents Lynn and Bart Walter recently held an open studio party, and the guests of honor were seven life-size chimpanzees sculpted from clay.Last week, the breathtaking pieces, which weigh as much as 200 pounds, were moved to a foundry in Baltimore, where they will be cast in bronze.About 60 guests, including representatives from the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation, listened to Bart Walter talk about each creation.Seven chimpanzees, young and old, crouched inquisitively and stretched majestically on pedestals surrounding the crowd.

Melvin M. Payne, chairman emeritus of the board of the National Geographic Society, died of pneumonia Saturday at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. He was 79 and lived in Bethesda.He was a scientific leader of the society for several decades and conducted many adventurous research trips to distant points on the globe.He began work for the society as a secretary in 1932 when he was 21 years old.Mr. Payne retired from the top post in 1987 after 55 years with the organization but continued to be active in its affairs.

The Maryland Science Center, an Inner Harbor fixture since 1976, has been captivating and teaching locals and tourists alike with its exhibits for nearly 30 years. And starting tomorrow, the center will open its doors and show off a renovated and expanded space with a new wing, more exhibits and more amenities. This weekend, an array of family-friendly activities will be held on the promenade outside the science center. The official grand opening kicks things off at 10 a.m. tomorrow with schoolchildren standing along the promenade and greeting Astro, the center's dinosaur mascot, just before the big moment.

Cal Ripken Jr. was there. So were Kristi Yamaguchi, Mickey Mantle and Michael Jordan. Even Babe Ruth swung a bat or two.I saw these famous people and many others at the "wax museum" recently at Freedom Elementary School.During February, Freedom third-graders studied biographies, reading about famous people in sports, politics, science, music, art, literature and medicine.After researching the life of a famous person and writing a report to show what they had learned, the students became the historical figures during the wax museum event.

Like chambermaids cleaning up after departed guests, scientists have climbed trees and scoured branches in Africa seeking chimpanzee hair, hoping to figure out who's who among all the world's chimps.In the first large study of genetic variation among wild chimpanzees, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, used tiny bits of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, from hair as a guide to chimpanzee relationships, mating preferences and social structure.The biggest surprise was that chimps from West Africa are genetically distinct from chimps in Central and East Africa, so much so that they may even be a separate species.