About Jane Goodall
Dr. Jane Goodall was born in London, England, in 1934. Jane loved animals even as a child. When she was just over one year old, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee, which she named Jubilee. She carried Jubilee with her everywhere. Jane also spent a lot of time with a wonderful dog, Rusty, who taught her that animals have minds, personalities and emotions.
One of Jane’s earliest recollections is of the day that she hid in a small stuffy henhouse in order to see how a hen laid an egg. She emerged after about five hours. Jane also spent a lot of time with a wonderful dog, Rusty, who taught her that animals have minds, personalities and emotions.
Little Jane Holding Jubilee (Left)
In 1939, World War II broke out and London was in danger of being bombed by the Germans at any time. Jane's father joined the army, and her mother left London with her two daughters and went to live in Bournemouth in southern England. In Bournemouth, Jane showed her love for reading, and reading became her lifelong interest and habit. She was particularly fascinated by stories about humans and animals, especially the "Tarzan Series" and the stories by the famous British writer Joseph Rudyard Kipling, and gradually had the dream of going to Africa to study animals.
When Jane Goodall graduated from high school, World War II ended. She worked in various jobs in London, such as secretary, nurse, and film production, but she never forgot her dream and used her free time to learn about animals. Africa has always been a place she longed for.
Jane's opportunity came when a school friend whose family had moved to Kenya invited her to visit. Once there, Jane made an appointment to meet Dr. Louis Leakey, famous anthropologist and paleontologist. After one year of working under Leakey's direction in the museum, Leakey asked Jane to study the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream Reserve. She had no scientific training in animal study, indeed did not even hold an undergraduate degree. But, Leakey saw that she had an insatiable curiosity about the animal world, a strong determination to find the answers, and the necessary patience to await their discovery. Jane's mother encouraged her daughter's dream and accompanied her to Gombe, which was incredible support.
Jane and Her Mother at Gombe (Right)
In 1960, Jane Goodall traveled to what was then the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve to study the behavior of the wild chimpanzees under the auspices of famed anthropologist and paleontologist Dr. Louis Leakey. Her charge was to study the behavior of the chimpanzees in order to better understand human evolution. At first, the Gombe chimpsfled whenever they saw Goodall. She persisted, however,watching from a distance with binoculars, and gradually the chimps allowed her closer. ! The first chimp visited her camp was a handsome male with the dense white beard. Jane named him David Greybeard.
However, one day, a big male chimp visited my camp! It was a handsome male with the dense white beard. I named him David Greybeard. The days later, he visited many t
From that time on things got easier for me. Sometimes when I met David Greybeard out in the forest, he would come up to see if I had a banana hidden in my pocket. The other chimps stared with amazement. Obviously I wasn’t as dangerous as they had thought. Gradually they allowed me closer and closer.
—— Jane Goodall
After several months of observation, Jane was able to recognize different chimpanzees at a glance, but she had not made any new discoveries. The research was only funded for six months, and it might be called off if she made no progress. One day in the fall of 1960, she saw chimpanzee David Greybeard strip leaves off twigs to fashion tools for fishing termites from a nest. This was such an important discovery! Until then, scientists had thought humans were the only species to make and use tools, and humans were defined as “Man the Tool Maker.” On hearing of Goodall's observation, Dr. Leakey said: “Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or accept chimpanzees as humans.”
One morning, near the Peak, I came upon him squatting on a termite mound. As I watched, he picked a blade of grass, poked it into a tunnel in the mound, and then withdrew it. The grass was covered with termites all clinging on with their jaws. He picked them off with his lips and scrunched them up. Then h
I was really thrilled. David had used objects as tools! He had also change a twig into something more suitable for fishing termites. He had actually made a tool. Before this observation, scientists had thought that only humans could make tools. Later I would learn that chimpanzees use more objects as tools than any creature except for us. This finding excited Louis Leakey more than any other.
—— Jane Goodall
It was the new discovery that helped Jane to obtain funding to continue to observe chimpanzees in Gombe. Jane observed and recorded more previously unknown chimpanzee habits and behaviors. Jane has had the unique habit of naming her subjects. Jane also pioneered many new research methods. She named the chimpanzees, did not interfere with their activities, and determined the chimpanzees' food by analyzing their feces.
Chimps are omnivores
Before observing chimpanzees eating termites, Jane also observed chimpanzees eating wild boar meat, proving that chimpanzees are omnivores. Before this, the scientific community had always believed that chimpanzees were herbivores.
Chimpas are dancers
On a rainy day, Jane once observed a group of chimpanzees climbing to the top of a mountain in the rain, then rushing down the mountain, breaking branches and waving them in their hands. Jane called their ritualized behavior "rain dance."
Chimps are communicators
Jane discovered that chimpanzees have group communication like humans, and they use different calls to express different meanings, and each chimpanzee's call is unique.
Chimps are huggers
Chimpanzees kiss, hug, pat each other on the back, comb each other's hair, tickle each other, laugh; they are also afraid, angry...
Chimps are warriors
Jane and her team once observed a "war" between two groups of male chimpanzees that lasted for 4 years until one of the groups was killed and driven away.
In August 1963, Jane's photo with chimpanzees graced the cover of National Geographic magazine, and her articles on chimpanzees were highly praised. Jane used vivid and detailed language to describe the chimpanzees, each with its own name and distinct personality. The issue sold three million copies, and at the age of 31, Jane became one of the most celebrated scientists in the world. After years of studying chimpanzees, Jane befriended many wild chimpanzees. She seemed to possess a magical power that made chimpanzees let down their guard, feel at ease, and embraced Jane. During a release of a captive chimpanzee, the chimpanzee returned and embraced Jane.
While Jane Goodall was conducting her research, chimpanzees faced even greater threats to their survival. Africa's growing human population was slowly but steadily encroaching on pristine forests. People were cutting down trees for fuel, clearing brush for farmland, capturing wild animals, and even selling infant chimpanzees as pets. Furthermore, chimpanzees held in captivity in zoos and used in experiments faced extremely poor living conditions.
When Jane realized chimpanzees across Africa were endangered, she made a decision that would change forever the face of the conservation movement. Using the fame and
recognition she had gained from her NationalGeographic articles and documentaries, Jane Goodall left the solitude and beauty of the Gombe forest and the chimpanzees whom she loved almost like family, to travel the world, raising awareness of the plight of our closest living relatives—and raising money to fight to save them.
Today Jane travels more than 300 days per year talking to audiences about their power to help other people, animals and the environment. Her Institute, which she founded in 1977, has programs designed to benefit people who are living in poverty in Africa, and to spread the word about the importance of conserving the forests and animal populations.
Hope has been a theme in Jane Goodall's speeches for many years. She consistently conveys hope through her own experiences and stories from her own life. In "A Book of Hope," Jane uses a dialogue format to explain four reasons for hope.
- The incredible human intellect
- Nature's resilience
- The power of youth
- The indomitable human spirit
Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I'm not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.
― Jane Goodall, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
