Early Life
Jane Goodall was born April 3, 1934, in England.
Her parents divorced when she was eight years old and
she moved with her mother to Bournemouth, England.
In Bournemouth, Jane met the legendary wildlife
expert, Sir Richard Attleborough, who taught Jane
about the wonders of primates and the importance
of preserving their fragile habitats.
The Wonders of Primates
In
1957, Jane was hired as a secretary to travel
with anthropologist Louis Leaky to Kenya and
Tanzania. She was immediately captivated by the
trusting animals when she was first approached
by a chimpanzee that she named David Greybeard.
She soon began feeding David on a regular basis,
and eventually he took bananas straight from
her hand and even allowed her to groom him. Other
chimpanzees, observing the interactions between
Jane and David, allowed Jane to observe them
at close range. Goodall soon began studying chimpanzee
social structure in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National
Park. While studying chimpanzees, Goodall made
several important discoveries about the animals.
She first discovered that the chimps were intelligent
enough to fashion tools from natural resources
in their surroundings for obtaining termites
deep within their nests. It was the first time
in history that animals other than humans had
been documented constructing tools. Her observations
led many in the scientific community to consider
the close evolutionary relationship between humans
and chimpanzees. Goodall also discovered that
chimpanzees hunted and ate African bushpigs,
which disproved the theory that Chimpanzees were
strictly herbivorous (plant-eaters). Goodall
soon returned to England and earned a doctorate
from the University of Cambridge in ethology
(animal behavior).
Awards and Legacy
In
1977, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute
for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation,
to support continuous research into chimpanzee
society. Today, Goodall has received dozens of
prestigious awards including several honorary
doctorates. In 2003, she was named as a "Dame of the British
Empire," an award similar to that of knighthood.
In 2004, she was named a United Nations "Messenger
of Peace"
