5 Chapter 4 The Chimps

Chapter 4 The Chimps Jane was discouraged by how little progress she was making with the chimps. Then, to make matters worse, she and Vanne both got sick. Very sick. Most likely both women had come down with malaria. They had no drugs with them to treat the disease. Jane had been told that there was no malaria at Gombe, so she didn't take medicine along. Jane blamed herself for that!

MALARIA MALARIA IS ONE OF THE MOST WIDESPREAD DISEASES IN THE WORLD. PEOPLE CATCH IT FROM BEING BITTEN BY A CERTAIN KIND OF MOSQUITO. MALARIA DOES DAMAGE TO THE LIVER AND TO BLOOD CELLS. THE SYMPTOMS ARE HIGH FEVERS, VOMITING, CHILLS, AND BAD HEADACHES. PEOPLE IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA DESERT ARE MOST AT RISK FOR MALARIA. INSECT SPRAYS CAN KILL INDOOR MOSQUITOES. DRUGS CAN TREAT THE DISEASE. BUT AS OF YET THERE IS NO VACCINE TO PREVENT MALARIA. MORE THAN ONE MILLION PEOPLE STILL DIE OF IT EVERY YEAR. For two weeks, Jane and her mother never left their tent. All they did was lie in bed and sweat. For many days, Vanne's fever rose as high as 105 degrees.

Both Jane and Vanne were lucky; they recovered. The minute she felt well enough, Jane returned to the forests. At last, her patience paid off. It was October. Vanne had gone home to England. Jane was on her own. She began exploring an area she called the Peak. Every day, rain or shine, she climbed up the steep slope of the Peak into the forest. Little by little, the chimps became used to Jane watching them. One day she saw a female hold out her hand to a male, who kissed it! She saw two baby chimps play tug-of-war with a twig. Jane could tell many of the chimps apart, and she gave them names. Flo was an old female chimp. Jane liked Flo a lot. She was a very popular chimp, although—to Jane, at least—Flo was funny-looking. She had a big round nose and torn ears. Flo had a baby. Jane

called her Fifi. And she called Fifi's older brothers Faben and Figan. Flo was a caring mother. She protected Fifi from the rain. She carefully groomed her young. (Grooming means cleaning their fur.) Flo was a playful mother, but she was also firm. She never let her children get out of line! Olly was Flo's friend. Olly was also a female. Her face was very long, and her lips jiggled a lot. Another chimp—a male—looked a lot like Olly. Jane was quite sure he was Olly's brother. She named him William. In animal studies, animals are usually given numbers, not names. In fact, many scientists think it's a bad idea to name animals that are being studied. They worry that it will make the animals seem too human.

Jane definitely did not think of the chimps as humans. But she did see the chimps as individuals. They had different personalities. William was timid and fearful. Gilka was a show-off, always looking for attention. Frodo was a bully, a dangerous bully. One time Jane had been watching Frodo when suddenly he charged. He beat and kicked her.

Frodo started to leave, then came back, beat Jane more, and dragged her to the edge of a cliff. What did Frodo do next? He threw her over the side. It was a steep drop, but luckily there were bushes that stopped Jane's fall. Even so, she was banged up pretty bad.