Jane Goodall

Who Is Jane Goodall?

Jane Goodall is a renowned primatologist, ethologist, and conservationist who revolutionized the study of wild chimpanzees. In 1960, she ventured to Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park, where her unconventional, immersive approach to research led to groundbreaking discoveries about primate behavior, social structures, and their close connections to humans. Her work has profoundly influenced scientific understanding of animal behavior and human evolution. Beyond her research, Goodall is a prominent advocate for wildlife conservation and environmental sustainability, advancing these causes through her organization, the Jane Goodall Institute. Her legacy continues to inspire efforts toward ecological preservation globally.

Early Years and Interest in Animals

Jane Goodall, born on April 3, 1934, in London, England, was raised by her father, Mortimer Herbert Goodall, a businessman and motor-racing enthusiast, and her mother, Margaret Myfanwe Joseph, a novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Vanne Morris Goodall. Alongside her sister, Judy, Goodall spent her formative years in London and Bournemouth, England. From a young age, she developed a keen interest in animal behavior, spending much of her free time observing local wildlife, meticulously documenting her findings through notes and sketches. Her passion for zoology and ethology was further fueled by extensive reading in the field. Even as a child, she harbored the ambition of traveling to Africa to study animals in their natural habitats.

Goodall attended the Uplands private school, where she earned her school certificate in 1950 and a higher certificate in 1952. Following her education, she worked as a secretary at Oxford University. To support her dream of visiting Africa, she also took a part-time job at a London documentary film company, eventually financing her long-awaited trip to the continent.

Learning from Anthropologist Louis Leakey

Learning from Louis Leakey’s mentorship played a pivotal role in shaping Jane Goodall’s career. In the late 1950s, during a visit to South Kinangop, Kenya, Goodall met the renowned anthropologist, who was then serving as the curator of the Coryndon Museum in Nairobi. Recognizing her potential, Leakey hired her as a secretary and later invited her to join an anthropological excavation at Olduvai Gorge—a site that would become famous for its prehistoric fossils. He also arranged for her to study vervet monkeys on an island in Lake Victoria, further broadening her field experience.

Leakey held the belief that studying higher primates over long periods would reveal crucial insights into human evolution. He was particularly interested in chimpanzees, one of the most intelligent primates. Previous attempts at observing them in the wild had either been too brief or too disruptive, leading to incomplete or skewed data.

Despite Goodall’s lack of formal scientific training, Leakey saw in her the resilience and patience necessary for a long-term study of chimpanzees. Encouraged by him, she took on the challenge, embarking on a groundbreaking research journey that revolutionized our understanding of primates. Although some scientists were skeptical of her qualifications at the time, Leakey’s trust in her abilities proved to be well-founded, marking the beginning of Goodall’s extraordinary contributions to anthropology and primatology.

Observing Chimpanzees in Africa

In July 1960, Jane Goodall, accompanied by her mother and an African cook, arrived at Lake Tanganyika’s shores in the Gombe Stream Reserve, Tanzania, with the objective of studying chimpanzees. Her initial efforts to closely observe these primates were met with challenges; she could not approach within 500 yards before they fled. However, after identifying a more suitable group to observe, she established a consistent and non-threatening presence by appearing at the same location every morning near a feeding area in the Kakombe Valley. Over time, the chimpanzees became accustomed to her presence, allowing her to approach as close as 30 feet within a year. By the end of two years, they displayed little fear and often approached her in search of bananas.

Discoveries in Chimpanzee Behavior

Utilizing this newfound acceptance, Goodall initiated what she referred to as the “banana club,” a systematic feeding approach aimed at building trust and deepening her understanding of chimpanzee behavior. Through this method, she developed close relationships with many individuals in the reserve, mimicking their behaviors, spending time in the trees, and consuming their food.

This constant interaction led Goodall to uncover several previously undocumented behaviors. She observed that chimpanzees possess a complex social structure characterized by ritualized behaviors and a primitive communication system, comprising over 20 distinct sounds. Goodall is recognized for her pioneering observations of chimpanzees consuming meat and utilizing tools—activities once thought to be uniquely human.

Additionally, she documented the use of stones as weapons, the role of touch and embraces in providing comfort, and the formation of long-term familial bonds among the chimpanzees. In the social hierarchy, males do not participate actively in family life but are integral to the group’s stratification. The dominant males occupy the highest social ranks, with lower-ranking individuals often adopting subservient behaviors to avoid conflict. A male’s rank is frequently linked to the intensity of his displays during feeding and other communal events.

Challenging the previously held belief that chimpanzees were exclusively herbivorous, Goodall witnessed them stalking, killing, and consuming a variety of prey, including large insects, birds, and even small mammals such as baby baboons and bushbucks. Notably, she recorded instances of cannibalism and observed chimps using grass blades and leaves to extract termites from their mounds, demonstrating their ingenuity as toolmakers by modifying the grass to create an effective long-handled tool for feeding.

Jane Goodall: Films and Documentaries

Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking work with chimpanzees was first introduced to the general public through the documentary Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees, which premiered on American television on December 22, 1965. Directed by her first husband and narrated by the renowned Orson Welles, the film depicted Goodall as a shy yet determined young Englishwoman observing chimpanzees in their natural habitat. This documentary not only captivated audiences but also established the chimpanzees as a prominent subject on both American and British public television.

Through her compelling observations, Goodall challenged the scientific community to reconsider the long-standing distinctions between humans and other primates. In 2017, a new documentary titled Jane was released, which combined previously unreleased footage from the original Miss Goodall documentary with contemporary interviews featuring Goodall herself. This film offered a more comprehensive narrative of her experiences and insights gained during her extensive work with chimpanzees, further highlighting her enduring impact on wildlife conservation and primatology.

Professorships and Public Education

Jane Goodall’s academic credentials were firmly established with the completion of her Ph.D. in ethology from Cambridge University in 1965. Notably, she became only the eighth individual in the university’s extensive history to pursue a Ph.D. without first obtaining a baccalaureate degree. Following her doctoral studies, Goodall served as a visiting professor of psychiatry at Stanford University from 1970 to 1975, and in 1973, she was appointed as an honorary visiting professor of zoology at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, a position she has maintained for many years.

In 1986, after attending a conference in Chicago focused on the ethical treatment of chimpanzees, Goodall shifted her efforts toward educating the public about the endangered habitats of wild chimpanzees and the unethical treatment of those used in scientific research.

To safeguard the natural environment of wild chimpanzees, Goodall advocates for African nations to develop eco-friendly tourism initiatives that transform wildlife into a sustainable economic resource. She collaborates with businesses and local governments to promote ecological stewardship.

Goodall emphasizes the need for scientists to seek alternatives to animal testing in research. She has voiced her opposition to militant animal rights groups that resort to violent or destructive actions, arguing that such extremism on both sides of the debate hinders productive dialogue. While she acknowledges the persistence of animal research, she believes it is crucial to educate future scientists to adopt a more compassionate approach to the treatment of animals. As she has noted, “By and large, students are taught that it is ethically acceptable to perpetrate, in the name of science, what, from the point of view of animals, would certainly qualify as torture.”

Jane Goodall’s Books

Jane Goodall’s extensive fieldwork has resulted in the publication of numerous articles and influential books. Her first major work, In the Shadow of Man, was released in 1971. This groundbreaking book serves as a field study of chimpanzees, effectively bridging the gap between scientific scholarship and popular literature. Goodall’s vivid prose brings these animals to life, showcasing a world rich in social dynamics that encompass drama, comedy, and tragedy. However, some critics have pointed out that her tendency to attribute human behaviors and names to chimpanzees may be viewed as manipulative.

In her 1990 publication, Through a Window, Goodall addresses the ethical dilemmas surrounding the captivity of chimpanzees. She argues, “The more we learn of the true nature of nonhuman animals, especially those with complex brains and corresponding complex social behavior, the more ethical concerns are raised regarding their use in the service of man—whether this be in entertainment, as ‘pets,’ for food, in research laboratories, or any of the other uses to which we subject them.” She emphasizes that such concerns are particularly acute when these practices result in significant physical or mental suffering, as often occurs with vivisection.

Goodall’s 1989 work, The Chimpanzee Family Book, was specifically aimed at children, promoting a more compassionate perspective on wildlife. This book earned the UNICEF/UNESCO Children’s Book of the Year Award, and Goodall utilized the prize money to have the text translated into Swahili and French, ensuring its distribution throughout Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi. Through her writings, Goodall continues to advocate for the understanding and ethical treatment of animals, making a profound impact on both scientific and public discourse.

Jane Goodall Institute

Many of Jane Goodall’s initiatives are carried out under the auspices of the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. This nonprofit organization, founded in 1977, is dedicated to the protection of chimpanzees and the promotion of sustainable environmental practices. While its headquarters is located in Virginia, the Institute has established approximately two dozen offices worldwide.

Book Controversy

In March 2013, Goodall gained media attention due to her book, Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the Plants, co-authored with Gail Hudson. Prior to its release, allegations of plagiarism surfaced, claiming that Goodall had used sections from Wikipedia and other sources without proper attribution. Following these accusations, the publisher announced a delay in the book’s release to rectify the uncredited material. Goodall issued a statement through her institute, expressing her distress over the oversight: “This was a long and well-researched book, and I am distressed to discover that some of the excellent and valuable sources were not properly cited. I want to express my sincere apologies.” The revised edition of Seeds of Hope was reissued in 2014.

Marriages and Son

In 1962, Baron Hugo van Lawick (1937-2002), a Dutch wildlife photographer and filmmaker, was assigned by the National Geographic Society to document Goodall’s work in Africa. The extended assignment led to a romantic relationship, culminating in their marriage on March 28, 1964. Their honeymoon in Europe marked one of the few times Goodall was absent from Gombe Stream. In 1967, she welcomed her son, Hugo Eric Louis, affectionately known as “Grub.”

Following her divorce from van Lawick in 1974, Goodall married Derek Bryceson (1922-1980), a member of Tanzania’s parliament and director of its national parks, until his death from cancer.

Accolades

Throughout her distinguished career, Goodall has received numerous accolades, including the Gold Medal of Conservation from the San Diego Zoological Society in 1974, the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize in 1984, the Schweitzer Medal from the Animal Welfare Institute in 1987, the National Geographic Society Centennial Award in 1988, and the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences in 1990. More recently, she was appointed a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations in 2002 and honored as a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.