Jane Goodall, also known as Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall, was born on April 3, 1934 in London, England to Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall and Vanne Morris-Goodall, and she also has a sister. Jane had a passion for animals at a young age. In her toddler years, she was given a stuffed chimpanzee that she named Jubilee. Goodall still has this toy today. Jane was a good student …show more content…
at school even though she had a disorder called prosopagnosia, which results in problems with facial recognition. Jane enjoyed being outdoors in her free time. While she was outside, she would observe and take notes of animals. After reading Dr. Dolittle and Tarzan books, Jane dreamed of visiting Africa. Goodall graduated from a high school called Uplands Private School in 1952. After graduating, she worked as a typist/secretary, and she worked part time in the film industry. Jane never received a general college degree. In 1957, a friend of Jane invited her to travel to Kenya, Africa. Jane worked as a waitress in order to save money to visit Africa. In 1957, when Jane was twenty-three years old, she traveled to Mombasa, Africa.
There, she was introduced to Louis Leakey, an anthropologist. Leakey hired Jane to be his assistant and secretary while he and his wife conducted an archaeological dig at Olduvai Gorge. Then Louis chose Goodall to observe the chimpanzees in Africa. Leakey wanted more research done on chimpanzees because he believed that it would give more information on human evolution. In July of 1960, Jane Goodall began her research of chimpanzees at Gombe Stream, which is present day Tanzania. Jane’s mother traveled to Africa and stayed with her on the reserve because British authorities did not want Jane to live on the reserve alone. When Jane Goodall first arrived on the chimpanzee reserve, the chimpanzees were very shy with her and she could not get very close to them. The chimpanzees eventually got used to Jane, which allowed her to get closer to the …show more content…
animals. Jane made various discoveries about chimpanzees while she was on the reserve.
First, she discovered that these animals make their own tools. For example, the chimpanzees would use twigs and grasses as fishing poles to fish termites out of mounds. Before this discovery, scientists thought that humans were the only animals that used tools. Another discovery of Jane’s was that chimpanzees did not just eat fruits and vegetables. Some animals that these primates ate while Goodall was observing were insects, young monkeys, and pigs. Also, Jane Goodall discovered that chimpanzees could sometimes be violent, but they were affectionate towards their family as well. Female chimpanzees would sometimes kill other chimpanzees’ young. This act was called “infanticide.” At one point when Jane was observing these primates, the animals had started their own “war.” This “war” lasted for four years. Even though the chimpanzees had a dark side to them, they also appeared as affectionate and loving animals. They would create bonds between their family members that could last for a long
time. When Goodall was researching at Gombe, a photographer named Baron Hugo van Lawich was sent to Africa to film Goodall’s work. Jane ended up marrying this man in 1964 and they had a child. Then, in 1965, Jane became the eighth person to receive a PhD at Cambridge University without having a bachelor’s degree. Because of her magnificent work, there was a movie made about her and the chimpanzees. Books and articles were also written about her. In fact, Jane wrote some of the books about her research herself! Finally, institutions such as Roots and Shoots, and the Jane Goodall Institute have been established because of Jane and her work. Jane Goodall has also received multiple honors such as the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science. All in all, Jane Goodall’s research and observations of chimpanzees has helped scientists understand chimpanzee behavior, human evolution, and how humans and chimpanzees are alike. Without Goodall’s research, we would not know how chimpanzees behave, and we would not know that humans and chimpanzees behave very similarly. Also, the world would not be aware of how endangered chimpanzees are without Jane’s observations. Jane Goodall is currently trying to educate the public on the chimpanzees being endangered.