The Jane Goodall Barbie doll was released as part of Mattel’s Inspiring Women series.
(Picture: Jane Goodall Institute/Handout via REUTERS)Mattel has released a Barbie doll of Dr Jane Goodall, the conservationist, animal behaviour expert, and activist.
The doll is part of the Barbie Inspiring Women series, which “pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before. “
Mattel says: “Recognizing decades of dedication, ground-breaking research, and heroic achievements as a conservationist, animal behaviour expert, and activist, Barbie honours Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, with a collectable doll made from recycled plastic”
The Jane Goodall Barbie doll comes with a figurine of her most famous subject, a chimpanzee named David Greybeard, plus a pair of binoculars and a notebook.
Dr Goodall, 88, told Reuters that she had wanted a Barbie doll made in her likeness: "I wanted a doll to be me even before this idea came up.
“I’ve seen...little girls playing with Barbie dolls and certainly at the beginning, they were all very girly girly and I thought little girls need...some choice.”
She added: "Mattel has changed its range of dolls and there’s all kinds of astronauts and doctors and things like that. So many children learn about me at school. They’ll be thrilled to have the Barbie doll."
Dr Goodall began her research in east Africa in 1960, at the age of 26. She observed how chimpanzees made tools, hunted, and showed traits such as compassion.
Her work demonstrated the need to protect chimpanzees from extinction and how to include local people and the environment in species conservation.
Mattel said it would also partner with the Jane Goodall Institute and her youth service movement Roots & Shoots to help teach children about their environmental impact, as reported by Reuters.
Goodall said: “I see us at the mouth of a very long, very dark tunnel with a little shining star at the end and it’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel and saying ‘Oh, I hope that star comes to us.’ Hope is about action.
“We... work around all these obstacles between us and the star, which is climate change, loss of biodiversity, poverty, unsustainable lifestyles, pollution, you name it. And as we go along the tunnel, we reach out to others because there are people working on each one of these problems but so often they’re working in silos.”
