One of the most ground-breaking behaviours that Jane observed was the chimps manipulating twigs and grass to essentially “fish” for termites. This demonstration of tool use by an animal literally rewrote the rulebook on what was deemed to distinguish Homo sapiens from other primates.
Jane distinctly remembers how she felt after making this game-changing discovery: “I was amazed. I knew that Louis Leakey, who spent his life searching for the fossilized remains of our Stone Age ancestors, would be thrilled. Back then, we were defined as ‘Man the Toolmaker’ and it was thought only we used and made tools.” When Jane telegrammed her mentor to reveal the exciting news, Leakey responded: “Now we must redefine Man, redefine Tool – or accept chimpanzees as human!”
Gombe in 2020
Observations of the chimps (of which there are currently about 100) at Gombe continue to this day. The work is now carried out by the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which was founded in 1977 and has more than 30 offices around the globe. Of course, how the chimps are studied has changed a lot since the early days, now taking advantage of cutting-edge science and technology that wasn’t previously available.
The organization now makes use of hi-res satellite imagery, forest-change modelling software and lab techniques that enable the chimps’ urine and faeces to be analysed to better understand family lineages and disease. The latter is particularly important as we learn more about the cross-over of illnesses from humans to chimps and the threats faced by pandemics such as Covid-19.
In total, since Jane began in 1960, more than 165,000 hours of observations have been collected, which have provided the data for hundreds of academic papers and theses.
And if you’re wondering after six decades if there can be anything new left to learn, you better believe it, as unprecedented insights into the biology and societal structure of these complex animals (among humans’ closest relatives genetically speaking) are still coming to light. For instance, Gombe is home to a pair of chimps called Golden and Glitter who are the oldest known twin chimpanzees in the world, having turned 22 in July 2020. The sisters, who have exhibited very different personalities since they were young, have provided an invaluable opportunity to see twin dynamics.
Over the years, the remit of the JGI has broadened to also helping people, because Jane knows more than most that the welfare of Gombe’s wildlife is intrinsically tied to the welfare of the local population who live in the environs of the national park.
“We developed a holistic programme, called TACARE, to help the local people. That includes suitable farming operations that do not destroy the soil, restoring fertility to overused farmland, shade-grown coffee, better health and educational facilities working with local Tanzanian authorities, appropriate water-management programmes, Microcredit programmes based on Mohammed Yunus’ Grameen Bank, and we provide family-planning information. We also provide as many scholarships as possible to keep girls in school after puberty.”