Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall

The Watcher Jane Goodall was born in England in 1934. As a child, she liked to learn about animals. She liked to watch how they behaved. Jane loved to read colorful stories about jungle animals. She dreamed of living in Africa. Jane was sure that, one day, she wanted to live with animals and write stories about them.

Off to Africa When Jane finished school, she went to work in an office. She saved the money she earned. When she had saved enough, Jane took a trip to Kenya, in Africa. In Kenya, she met Dr. Louis Leakey. Leakey was a scientist who wanted to learn how apes might be like humans.

Dr. Leakey hired Jane to work with him. One day, he talked about doing a new kind of study. The study would be about chimpanzees in Tanzania (tan-zuh-NEE-uh). Dr. Leakey was looking for a person to help him. That person would watch how the chimps lived, and write reports. He asked if Jane would like to do the study with him.

Into the Forest Jane moved to Gombe (GOME-bay), a forest in Tanzania. She watched the chimps every day. She wrote careful notes about what she saw. Jane saw that the chimps lived in family groups. In her notes, she gave each family member a name.

The Gombe Gang At first, many of the chimps were afraid of Jane. An older chimp she named David trusted Jane. One day, David let Jane meet his family group. She watched them and wrote reports on how they behaved. Her reports upset many old beliefs.