Lived among primates – monkey researcher Goodall celebrates her 90th birthday

“In the early 1960s, many scientists believed that only humans had minds, that only humans could think rationally,” she says in the documentary “Jane,” which features extensive footage from her early research. “Luckily I didn’t go to college and didn’t know these things,” she adds.

Goodall owed her position to the British-Kenyan anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her family had no money to finance her studies. Nevertheless, Goodall was determined to fulfill her childhood dream of living in Africa among the wild animals. She worked as a secretary and waitress before heading to Africa for the first time, where she met researcher Leakey.

Impartiality was Goodall’s strength
Impressed by her knowledge and enthusiasm, Leakey assigned her to investigate a group of chimpanzees on the shores of Lake Tanganyka in the north of present-day Tanzania. It was her impartiality that Leakey saw as a strength. He sent two more women: the American Dian Fossey, who was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 and was researching gorillas, and Birute Galdikas, who grew up in Canada and devoted herself to orangutans in Borneo. Together they are sometimes called the ‘trimates’.

Monkeys slowly became accustomed to Goodall
Initially accompanied by her mother, Goodall braved all kinds of weather and all kinds of dangers, such as poisonous snakes, for months to get close to her test subjects – initially in vain. The chimpanzees ran away. But little by little, the animals got used to the sight of the ‘strange white monkey’, as she likes to call herself. She quickly became part of their community.

The method provoked criticism from some researchers
The ‘participant observation’ method proved more successful than all previous attempts. However, it also included feeding bananas and interacting with the animals, which led to criticism. For example, it was considered unscientific to give chimpanzees names instead of numbers. Goodall was undeterred. Her best friend became David Greybeard, a good-natured man with white hair on his chin, who was the first to dare to approach her. Graybeard opened the door so she could explore the group.

Sensational discovery: monkeys use tools
She watched Graybeard as he poked a termite hole with a stick and caught the insects. For this purpose he even prepared branches by removing the leaves. When she reported this observation to Leakey, he cabled back: “Now we must redefine man. Redefine tools. Or we have to recognize chimpanzees as people.” Until then, the use of tools was seen as the main distinction between humans and animals. Goodall now believes that language is at least partly responsible for the “explosive development of the human intellect.”

Goodall also observed affectionate behavior, cuddling, touching and sadness in Gombe. However, a devastating polio epidemic among the monkeys and later fatal collisions between the animals caused disillusionment in the almost paradisiacal world. “I thought they looked like us, but cuter than us,” Goodall says, looking back and adding, “I had no idea the ferocity they could show.”

Doctor Dolittle and Tarzan as sources of inspiration
She often cites the children’s book series Doctor Dolittle and Tarzan as inspiration for her childhood desire to live in the wild among animals. She jokes that she was disappointed because Tarzan married the wrong Jane. She herself married the Dutch nature filmmaker and photographer Hugo van Lawick, whose photos contributed significantly to her fame. The marriage ended after ten years. She later married the director of Tanzania’s national parks, Derek Bryceson, who died in 1980.

Goodall as a tireless fighter for species conservation
Goodall turned to conservation when she realized that chimpanzee populations everywhere were dwindling and losing their habitat. For example, she campaigns for a reduction in meat consumption and, even in her old age, she still tours the world tirelessly to wake people up with lectures and meetings. With the Jane Goodall Institute she has set up a global network through which she promotes a rethink.

Unlike many young environmental and climate activists, Goodall remains optimistic and empathetic. When asked by a teenager how to convince people who deny climate change, she responded on her podcast: “One thing I would advise you not to do is get aggressive. They won’t listen to you.’