![]() "These are holistic programmes that include suitable farming operations that do not destroy the soil, restoring fertility to overused farmland, shade-grown coffee, better health facilities and better educational facilities working with local Tanzanian authorities. ![]() The work of the JGI now extends far beyond Gombe, with many other conservation projects around Africa, as well as elsewhere across the globe.Īs Dr Goodall told us, the charity's remit is now just as much about helping the human communities that live in close proximity to chimps as it is the animals themselves: "We still continue research on the Gombe chimpanzees, but we have also developed programmes to help the local people. With twins being such a rare occurrence among wild chimps, JGI researchers have been gifted an invaluable opportunity to closely follow the development of these sisters who have now become mothers themselves, one of them to twins herself even! Advertisements Nearly six decades on, with more than 165,000 hours of observational data having been collected, Gombe is still bearing witness to milestones.įor instance, Guinness World Records has now confirmed Golden and Glitter – two of the chimps that live in the park – as the Oldest chimpanzee twins. It was the first time in history that an animal, other than humans, had been recorded using tools. Not least among her discoveries was a chimp that she had christened "David Greybeard" fashioning a termite-catching device from a twig that he’d stripped of leaves. Over the coming years, Dr Goodall would witness behaviour never before seen, forcing us to rethink our entire understanding not just of chimps, but of primates and of animals altogether. She describes this turning point of being accepted into the troop as the "proudest moment of my life". To her surprise, rather than running away, they "looked up and just carried on". AdvertisementsĪfter "miscalculating distances" while navigating the dense rainforest vegetation, she emerged much closer than intended to a group that was grooming. Then, one day, Dr Goodall made a breakthrough – all thanks to a little serendipity. ![]() It took several months to earn the chimps' trust. He also used this fire on which to cook in a 'kitchen' that was open-sided with a palm thatched roof." "Our 'bath' was a small canvas affair about 5 x 5 ft and 3 in tall which Dominic, our cook, filled with a little hot water, heated over the wood fire. Snakes, scorpions and all manner of creature could enter – and did! We had two little camp beds," she recalled. When Dr Goodall, aged 26, arrived at Gombe with her mother – who travelled with her because the British government would not let Jane travel unchaperoned – in 1960, she was not to find a luxury "eco-lodge" awaiting her in the jungle. ![]()
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