Jane Goodall, primatologist: biography

Jane Goodall is a primatologist, an entologist, an anthropologist, and also an ambassador of peace from England. She became widely known for 45 years of studying the social life of chimpanzees, whose photos and videos are very numerous. She spent most of her life in the forests of Tanzania. Research began in the distant 1960, when she was only 26 years old. Has received a number of honorary awards and orders. For her life she wrote more than two dozen books, including for children.

Childhood

Jane Goodall, whose biography begins in London, was born on April 3, 1934. Father - a businessman, mother - a writer. Jane became the first child in the family, later a younger daughter appeared. As a child, the girl received a toy from her father - a chimpanzee, the photo of which is the most popular in Goodall albums. It is this frightening at first glance toy inspired Jane's love of nature. By the way, the chimpanzee still accompanies the famous primatologist.

When Jane was 12 years old, her parents divorced. Together with his mother and younger sister, they lived in Bournemouth, in the house of my grandmother. At that time my father was at the front. From an early age, she liked to observe the behavior of different animals. Even then she dreamed of living in Africa and studying animals. This was promoted by various books, for example, "Tarzan". At that time for the girl, these dreams were unworkable.

First steps

After graduation she attended courses of secretaries. About the higher education the girl had to forget, as the family did not have money for her studies. The first place of work was a rather prestigious film company, which Jane Goodall left after the invitation of a classmate in Kenya, where she could get an opportunity to study Africa. However, the money was not even on the trip, so for some time she worked as a waitress in one of Bournemouth's restaurants. She went to Kenya in 1956, where she became an assistant and secretary in the National Museum. Soon, together with the director of the museum and his wife went to excavations in East Africa. At the same time, the head suggested that Jane Goodall begin to study the behavior of chimpanzees, which would help to draw conclusions about the life of primitive man.

Carier start

To study zoology and primatology, Jane Goodall returned to England. After completing the courses, at last I got the opportunity to realize my dream. In 1960, a young anthropologist, Jane Goodall, arrived in Gombe Street. ("Chimpanzee in Nature: Behavior" - a book whose main theme was the description of the characteristics of these animals, was written by Jane after years of observation of primates, published in 1986 and translated into Russian.) On a long journey with her mother went, because As local authorities did not allow young girls to be unaccompanied. However, it was not so much the tradition: just officials were afraid to leave the white girl alone with the "savages."

Mom Jane has always supported the daughter's desire to study animals. At first, her help was invaluable. She helped her settle in the camp and make contact with the locals. In the first months, both mother and daughter became ill with malaria, which almost became deadly for them.

Animal Watching

Jane Goodall, whose books describe the chimpanzee's behavior well, did not immediately manage to locate these animals. She began work early in the morning and wandered through the woods until dark. First she was accompanied by the pathfinders, then she explored the neighborhood herself. The first time chimpanzees were afraid to approach, but soon began to get used to her presence. Jane built herself a small observation camp, which was the most necessary. There were weeks when Goodall could not track down any chimpanzees and fell into despair - a grant for research was calculated only for six months. Despite this, she was already able to make a number of discoveries that led the leadership to continue funding.

First discoveries

Jane Goodall became the first to see that chimps use primitive tools. In order to get an ant, they use small sticks. Branches help the chimp extract honey from wild bees, and they split the nuts with the help of a stone. In addition, she managed to find out that the primates themselves make tools. Prior to this, the opinion was held that individuals can use various adaptations, but only people can produce them.

It was Jane who determined that the chimpanzee would not mind eating meat. Previously it was believed that they are pure vegetarians and rarely change their diet. Goodall personally watched as the chimpanzee collectively hunted piglets and small monkeys.

Jane was the first to give names to chimpanzees. At that time, and now many researchers believe that it is necessary to assign only serial numbers to the experiment, so as not to impose a personal color. Jane believed otherwise, giving the chimpanzee different names, for example, David Graybeard.

The grim sides of the life of a chimpanzee

Each season of research brought new discoveries. However, until the 70s, Jane did not face the horrible aspects of the behavior of chimpanzees. She believed that these animals are better than humans, but she was the first to see and describe the war between chimpanzees. In the reserve, in addition to the clan followed, there were several other groups of these animals. During the reign of one leader, a part of the males separated from the clan and left in another part of the park. The new leader decided to start a war against them. The tactics of the battle were extremely simple: they were hunted down individually, beaten and bitten, and then left to die. Very soon the flock understood all the detached males.

Some females also were not an example for imitation. One day, Jane watched the terrible habit of two females, which selected newborn babies from other monkeys and ate them.

However, there were individuals who deserved respect. For example, two young chimpanzees, who grew up without parents, took on the education of orphans. Every year, Jane realized that not so much the chimpanzee is different from people. She even managed to get into a group of animals, where she became the "girl-friend" of one of the high-ranking females.

In the years that followed, Goodall made many interesting and useful discoveries about the life of chimpanzees. She laid out all her thoughts in books, many of which, unfortunately, have not been translated into Russian. Jane Goodall became one of the most famous primatial scientists of the last century, answering many questions about the life of chimpanzees.