Join Roots & Shoots (see below) while you’re at school and don’t give up! Keep your ears open for opportunities. Jane: You’ve got to really, really want it! You could go to university and go straight into research, but there are also lots of opportunities for v olunteering or for working at one of the good zoos. NGK: That’s amazing! What tips would you give NG Kids readers who want to have a wild career like yours? It was very moving because Spindle had just lost his own mother, so it was almost like this little infant had helped him get over his grief. It was the first time I’d seen that with unrelated chimps. Spindle completely saved the little orphan’s life! But to our amazement, a 12-year-old unrelated male called Spindle adopted him! He carried him around on his back, rescued him from difficult situations, reached out and took him into his nest at night, shared his food with him. Unfortunately, his survival seemed unlikely as he didn’t have an older brother or sister to care for him – which is what would normally happen. Mel was just beginning to eat solid foods, and so he’d reached an age where he could theoretically survive without his mother. Jane: I remember a little three-year-old male chimp called Mel who was orphaned after his mother died. NGK: What memories do you have of chimps caring for each other? But they also show love, compassion and care for others. Jane: Sadly, they’re capable of a type of war – they can be violent and aggressive. ![]() NGK: What surprised you most about the chimps? He was very handsome, and he had a gentle but determined nature. He’s the one who demonstrated making and using tools for the first time. Jane: The first one who lost his fear of me and who allowed me to follow him in the forest – David Greybeard. ![]() NGK: Who was your favourite chimpanzee in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park? When I started out, nobody else was studying chimps in the wild, so I was able to show how their behaviour is like ours – kissing, cuddling, holding hands, patting one another, reassurance etc. Jane: Helping people to understand – thanks to the chimps – that humans are part of the animal kingdom, not separate from it. NGK: Sounds like having a childhood pet really helped you in your studies! What are you most proud of? ![]() “I helped people understand that humans are part of the animal kingdom, not separate from it!” But luckily, I’d learned from my dog as a child, that that was rubbish! I was told I couldn’t talk about their personalities, minds or emotions – because they thought those things were unique to humans. While I was in Gombe, Tanzania in the 1960s, other scientists told me I’d done my whole study of chimpanzees wrong – that I shouldn’t have given the chimps names, that they should’ve been numbered, because that’s scientific. Jane: I studied animals differently from other people. NGK: Great advice! What’s been special about the work you’ve done? ![]() She founded the Gombe Stream Research Centre in 1965. Jane arrived in Tanzania in 1960 when she was 26 to study chimps at Gombe Stream, now a national park. So everybody laughed at me and said, “Jane, dream about something you can achieve.”īut my mother said, “If you really want something, you’re going to have to work hard, take advantage of every opportunity and never give up!” That’s about 70 years ago now, and back then girls in England didn’t have those opportunities. Jane: I was ten whenI decided I wanted to go to Africa and live with wild animals and write books about them. NGK: Hi Jane, when did you first know you wanted to work with animals? Important discoveries: Found that chimpanzees have emotions, use tools and eat meatĪ primatologist is someone who studies non-human primates such as monkeys, lemurs and gorillas. Known for: Being the first person to study chimps in the wild Job: Primatologist, conservationist, campaigner Jane Goodall! She’s a primatologist whose groundbreaking chimpanzee studies in Tanzania, East Africa, changed the way we think about wildlife forever! Learn more about the super scientist in our Jane Goodall interview… Who is Jane Goodall?
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