Alan Alda In Town Yesterday

[Zoneboy]

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ASHEBORO — Alan Alda encountered the N.C. Zoo’s chimpanzees Tuesday.

The state zoo’s chimps were a backdrop for an interview which Alda conducted for the PBS scientific documentary he’s hosting for release in 2009, “The Human Spark.”

The chimps — the star being Hondo, the alpha male of the troop — provided plenty of activity as the interview progressed at their habitat. The focus of the interview was the “1 percent difference” between humans and chimps.

Alda, best known for his role as Hawkeye in the TV series “M*A*S*H”, said his interest in science began as a boy as “an amateur inventor. “I liked to put things together, make things which didn’t always work.”

In his 20s, he started reading a lot about science.


“It’s fun to me,” he said. “It’s like poetry, the way biologists and other scientists work.”

Alda called his interest in science “a hobby of mine, a serious hobby. I like to help spread the word about science.”

This “hobby” led to his 11-year hosting of the PBS TV program, “Scientific American Frontiers,” which focused on new technologies and discoveries in science and medicine.

Alda’s association with the program’s producer, Graham Chedd, led to development of “The Human Spark.” Chedd was on hand Tuesday for the filming.

“We will try to figure out what makes us human ... how we developed. What is it that makes us us? How different is it from chimps?” Alda explained to area media before Tuesday’s filming.

“Chimps are very close to us, genetically only 1 percent different.”

Work on the three-part series began last week with filming in Washington state and Oregon. On Monday, Alda and the production crew were at the Duke Lemur Center at Duke University.

Filming will take place in many locations throughout the world, including caves in France which have artwork dating back some 30,000 years.

The first program will focus on “What made Homo ... sapiens?”, the second on “Chimps aren’t Us” and the third on “Inside Alan’s Brain,” which will peer into Alda’s own brain with high-tech techniques to determine his “own Human Spark.”

After Alda’s brief remarks to the media, zoo staff let 13 chimps into their habitat — three males, including Hondo, and 10 females, whose ages ranged from 7 to 39. There were special treats for the chimps to find, like peanut butter in hollowed tree-like branches.

Alda talked with chimp keeper Jennifer Ireland about the troop and learned about Hondo.

In a short while, Alda had a one-on-one encounter with Hondo, through the thick glass-like partition at the zoo’s Kitera Forest habitat. The two stared at each other, Hondo’s breath fogging the window.

When Alda moved to another section of the visitor viewing area and sat down on a window ledge, Hondo followed in his habitat and sat nearby.

But, when Dr. Brian Hare, noted primatologist who’s presently an assistant professor at Duke University, sat down for the interview, Hondo banged on the window.

“He’s saying, ‘Welcome to my neighborhood,’ ” Hare said about Hondo’s reaction. “I’m new.”

As the interview progressed, Hondo continually made his presence known — unexpectedly banging with his hands and feet on the partition and giving the good-natured actor quite a fright a few times.

“We’re new. We’re threatening him,” explained Hare. “He’s wanting to let us know he’s dominant.”

Alda asked why one of the other chimps went up to Hondo after a barrage. Hare said it was a younger male who showed his support for the action, like saying, “We’re buddies.”

After one of Hondo’s tirades, when he threw a rock, Alda joked, in reference to chimps being called political animals, “He’s being political right now.”

Hare, named by Smithsonian Magazine last year as one of America’s top young innovators, talked about the behaviors of chimps as well as another primate species, bonobos, which are found in the Congo.

Chimps, he explained, are dominated by males. Bonobos are female led in a cooperative effort in contrast to chimps. “It’s important to us to be cooperative.”

He also pointed out that it’s easy for chimps “to lose their cool” like Hondo was doing.