Jane LOVED chimps ever since she was a little girl.

She was VERY different from many other biologists. For one thing, she was a woman. Many people where horrified that she was going out in to the Gombe wilderness alone. Personally, I think that was unfair. She discovered many , many things about chimps that other scientists never dreamed a chimp would or could do.

For example...

One day while she was in the forest, she saw a chimp using tools! This was news breaking!

The chimps have more than one kind of tool. One of the kinds of tools they use is a stem of long grass that the chimps stick into termite holes and the termites crawl on the stem. A chimp then pulls the stick out and eats the termites. They also used rocks to smash things.

She named the chimps that she was studying, instead of numbering them (which was what I would do). And as she watched the chimps, she discovered something amazing. They where not just dumb animals that just had instincts, they acutely had emotions! They cared for one another, and they had fights too! Two of the chimps she saw this in was in the two chimp brothers, Frodo & Freud. They had many fights for leadership for their group. Later, the "Nature" program showed the harsh battles.

Jane discovered that chimps weren't sweet little banana eating monkeys, contrary to the popular belief. They could be simply horrible. She found out the chimps were carnivores! They go on big hunts to catch meat.

She loved Africa, but as she became famous, she decided to leave.

click on the panda