Jane Goodall and Gombe National Park

Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania is home to the Kasakela Group, a clan of chimpanzees. Dr. Jane Goodall spent over 30 years getting to know characters such as old David Graybeard and gentle Flo, the mother of a chimp dynasty. These are the most studied chimpanzees in the world, and have given us insight into our own human nature.

Chimps have a long childhood, lasting up to 9 years. A baby chimp begins life clinging to its mother’s belly. After a few months, the baby switches to riding on mom’s back, but stays in constant contact until around 2. 

Chimps live in loosely structured, flexible groups. Chimp society also has a strict hierarchy led by powerful “alpha” males, who make decisions about food, territory, and travel. High-ranking males can quickly turn on each other to gain power.

Chimps make and keep friends by grooming, playing, and sharing food. Scientists have seen chimps hugging, kissing, and even tickling each other. A meek chimp who makes many friends can have more power than an aggressive chimp without friends.

The Gombe Stream Research center is run by the Jane Goodall Institute, a group devoted to studying and preserving chimps and other animals in the Gombe ecosystem. From their base, scientists tramp across the park, through jungles and over mountains, hoping to observe wild chimps and other primates.

The scientists help train Tanzanian researchers, teaching the community to protect chimps and other primates. They also conduct outreach in local communities and schools, encouraging locals to embrace wildlife and the tourism it can bring.

Jane Goodall came to Gombe National Park without any scientific training or college education. But she had a passion for primates and was curious to see how chimps behaved in their natural habitat. 

She didn’t know that scientists then preferred to think of animals as “subjects,” with no real emotions, thoughts, or even specific names. She named every chimp at Gombe, and described sophisticated emotions like jealousy, shame, and humor. Her studies revolutionised primate science.

Goodall’s mentor was famous paleontologist Louis Leaky. Leaky thought that African great apes might hold clues to the origins of human beings. He encouraged Goodall to set up a long-term observational study of chimpanzees at Gombe. 

Gombe National Park is the smallest park in the east Tanzanian national park system. It protects a remote patch of steep, forested valleys. The valleys rise into mountains covered with alpine grass and bamboo. The park covers many habitats; home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and, most famously, one of the last chimpanzee populations in this part of East Africa.

Gombe’s main attraction is the chimpanzee colony, including the Kasakela Group. Goodall’s favorite spot in the park was this peak, where she could listen for chimp pant-hoots and spot chimps through binoculars as they moved through the forest below.

Gombe Stream National park lies on Lake Tanganyika, the second-deepest and second-largest (by volume) freshwater lake on Earth. It is also the world’s longest freshwater lake. It forms a natural boundary between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it the basis of the local economy because it’s rich in fish.

Lake Tanganyika lies in the East African Rift, where the continent of Africa is spreading apart due to tectonic forces. The steep hills and deep lake basin are cracks where the continent of Africa is actually splitting in half. 

The Jane Goodall Institute has followed the park’s olive baboons for nearly as long as they’ve studied chimps. Gombe baboons are known for their “beachcombing,” digging through the lakeshore for snails and other tasty tidbits. 

In a forest clearing sits an odd hill of bare earth. It’s a termite mound, full of bustling insects. Termites are soft-bodied and full of protein. Most predators can’t get inside their fortress of a nest. Chimpanzees have found an ingenious way around this by using twigs to go termite “fishing.” Goodall was the first scientist to document chimps using a tool to their advantage.

Chimps can shred leaves to make drinking sponges, crack nuts using rock “hammers,” and even sharpen sticks for hunting weapons. Scientists have also observed tool use in sea otters, which use rocks to crush shellfish, among other animals.

Termites aren’t the only animals chimps eat. Before Goodall came to Gombe, scientists assumed that chimps were vegetarians. But chimps at Gombe also hunt colobus monkeys. Groups of males use sophisticated teamwork to corner and trap these fast-moving monkeys. 

Jane Goodall founded TACARE in 1994. TARCARE works to protect wilderness areas and, simultaneously, to lift local people out of poverty. Forest monitors use tablet computers to record photos and videos that show whether people have cut down trees, grown crops, or grazed livestock on protected land. Aerial photos of deforestation eating away a woodland help show its true impact.

Studies have proven that a healthy environment is critical for human health and economic success. 
The forests around Lake Tanganyika hold soil in place, allowing crops to grow, and help to reduce pollution. Wild forest land also increases biodiversity.