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Jane Goodall is world famous for her observations of chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park in Africa. She was the first to observe some behaviors that made it clear just how closely related chimpanzees are to humans. Goodall had the chance to observe Chimps apparent emotions and their use of tools. It was once thought that the use of tools is what set humans above all other species. So these theories were brought to questions by her work. |
Jane traces her fascination with chimpanzees back to her childhood. Her mother gave her a stuffed chimp in honor of the first infant chimpanzee born in the London Zoo. Goodall had always been fascinated by animals and would spend hours on end watching to learn how they behave. She knew by the time she was eight years old that she wanted to go to Africa and live with wild animals.
She met some detours along her path to the chimpanzee’s African home. Jane actually graduated high school and was trained to become a secretary. Her first chance to go to Africa was not to study animals, but rather visiting a friend in Kenya.
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Her fascination with animals caught someone’s attention that told
Goodall that she should talk to Dr. Leakey if she really wanted to study
primates. So, Jane went to meet Louis Leakey who gave her a job as an
assistant in the National Museum of natural history in Nairobi. She even
worked with Leakey, a paleontologist, in a dig extracting remains of
ancient creatures. Dr. Leakey was interested in the behavior of a certain
group of chimpanzees that lived near a site where Stone Age humans had
been found. He thought these chimps might provide the missing link between
species.
Leakey "wanted someone with a mind uncluttered and unbiased by theory who would make a study for no other reason than a real desire for knowledge." (In the Shadow of Man, pg. 6) Jane Goodall was the person he was looking for; she had no prior college exposure and was very eager to learn. |
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The Wilkie Foundation funded Goodall’s first six months of research. The only problem that remained was that the government of the area she wished to study did not want this young English girl in the wild alone. Jane’s mother agreed to be her companion. They reached Gombe in 1960 to begin their study.
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The terrain was rough and there were many obstacles to overcome. Africa is
full of disease; Jane and her mother both contracted a
form of malaria. She went back to her
work as soon as she was strong enough. Goodall was in Africa for some time
before she got any worthwhile observations of wild Chimpanzees. She was able
to record a number of behaviors right away, simply watching the chimps from a
distance. Jane recorded charging displays that would be demonstrations of a
chimp’s power. She witnessed that chimpanzees build sleeping nests each
night.
Gradually, the chimpanzees let Jane get closer as they become more comfortable of the human presence. |
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Each time she came across a chimp that she could recognize she would name it. She was especially interested in individual differences among the population so it was only fitting that she would name the primates instead of numbering them.
Goodall was able to observe chimps eating meat, and using sticks to dig for termites. They were originally thought to be vegetarians. Jane was able to make enough progress with the chimpanzee observations that the National Geographic Society agreed to fund another year of work.
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Her work continued to be easier as the chimps became comfortable with her. Within years she was able to interact with the chimpanzees and their young. She was able to watch an entire group grow up, reproduce, and fight for power. Jane observed the emotional side of these creatures. She noticed that chimpanzees mourn death; they can even become so depressed that they stop eating and possibly die. Another interesting thing Jane learned was that chimpanzees are not always as gentle as they appear. She was the first to document war among chimps and even killings. |
Through the years Jane Goodall has received many honors for her pioneering work. She is in history for participating in the longest running study of wild animals ever. Goodall never did attend college, but she received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University for her study.
| Jane Goodall still continues to study chimpanzees in the wild. She writes books about her findings, lectures about our closest living relatives, and works to protect wild animals. The area where she studied her first pack of chimpanzees became dangerous due to overpopulating and poachers. She began a society to raise money for protecting the wild chimpanzee population. |  |
By: Heather Hassel
