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- What is Jane doing now?
- Does Dr. Jane still write
about chimpanzees?
- Does Jane meet with kids when
she travels?
- How long did Dr. Jane live
in Africa?
- How did Jane survive in the
Gombe forest?
- How old is Dr. Jane?
- Is Dr. Jane married?
- Does Dr. Jane have any kids?
- Does Dr. Jane have any pets?
- Does Dr. Jane have any brothers
or sisters?
- Does Dr. Jane still have Jubilee?
- How was Jane able to go to
Africa and study chimpanzees?
- Why did Dr. Jane’s mom
go to Africa with Dr. Jane?
- What is Dr. Jane’s favorite
animal?
- How old was Dr. Jane when
she started working with chimpanzees?
- Is David Greybeard Dr. Jane’s
favorite chimpanzee?
- Does Dr. Jane communicate
with chimpanzees?
- How many chimps are left in
the wild?
- What do chimpanzees eat and
drink?
- What is the difference between
a chimpanzee and a monkey?
- Do chimpanzees fight with
each other?
- Do chimpanzees swim?
- Is 43 years in chimp years
43 years in human? Or is one chimp year like
7 human years?
What is Jane doing
now?
At any moment, the most likely place to find
Jane Goodall is on an airplane. "Dr. Jane,"
as many children call her, spends most of her
time carrying her message of conservation and
individual action all around the world. She
travels an incredible amount of the time, giving
lectures, visiting schools and community groups
and meeting young people involved in her Roots
& Shoots global youth program. She is not
able to spend much time at the Gombe Stream
Research Centre, site of almost 40 years of
study on wild chimpanzees. The time Jane is
able to spend there with the chimps is precious
to her.
Does Dr. Jane still
write about chimpanzees?
Dr. Jane is always publishing new books about
her life and work with the chimpanzees. Other
members of Dr. Jane’s research team also
publish books and articles about their work
at the Gombe Stream Research Center.
Does Jane
meet with kids when she travels?
Jane Goodall spends her time traveling all
over the world, all year long, to talk with
adults and children about conservation and the
ability we all have to make a difference. She
values the hope, creativity, and energy of children,
and takes their questions and input quite seriously.
Dr. Jane often spends time meeting young people
involved in her Roots & Shoots environmental
education program to learn what they are doing
for the environment, animals and their community.
How long did Dr.
Jane live in Africa?
Dr. Jane first traveled to Africa in 1960.
She has been living there for 44 years and counting.
She also has a home in Bournemouth, England.
How did Jane
survive in the Gombe forest?
When Jane was sent to Gombe, many people had
doubts whether she would succeed. The risks
in such a study were great. Would she be able
to get close enough to the chimpanzees to make
observations? Would the chimpanzees or some
other wild animal attack her? What if she became
sick? In fact, Jane spent many months without
being able to observe the chimpanzees from nearby.
But then she found a mountaintop, "the
Peak," where she could watch them through
her binoculars. She would sometimes spend days
on the Peak, bringing only some tins of food
and coffee with her. She was patient, and took
time to build up the chimps' trust of her. When
she observed chimpanzees making and using tools
and eating meat, she knew others would see the
importance of her work and that she would get
the funding she needed to continue.
How old is Dr. Jane?
Dr. Jane was born in Bournemouth, England on
April 3, 1934. Dr. Jane is currently 70 years
old.
Is Dr. Jane married?
Dr. Jane was married twice. She was married
first to Hugo van Lawick; however, they decided
to divorce. Dr. Jane’s second husband
Derek Bryceson died of cancer after they had
been married only six years.
Does Dr. Jane have
any kids?
Jane has a son named Hugo Eric Louis; however,
he is known as "Grub" to his family
and friends. He lives in Tanzania in the little
guest house next to Dr. Jane’s house on
the shore of the Indian Ocean.
Does Dr. Jane have
any pets?
When she was young, Dr. Jane had a canine companion
named Rusty. Rusty did not belong to Dr. Jane;
he lived in a hotel around the corner. Dr. Jane
used to take him for walks and play with him.
Two dogs, Spoof and Mona Lisa, live with Dr.
Jane at her present home in Tanzania.
Does Dr. Jane have
any brothers or sisters?
Jane has a younger sister named Judy.
Does Dr. Jane still
have Jubilee?
Jubilee is a life-like toy chimpanzee that
Jane’s father gave her when she was just
over a year old. Friends warned her parents
that such a gift would cause nightmares for
a child. But Jane loved the toy, and to this
day Jubilee sits on a chair in her home in England.
How was Jane able
to go to Africa and study chimpanzees?
From childhood, Jane wanted to go to Africa
to live among animals and write about them.
Her family was not wealthy, and Jane's dream
was an unconventional one for a girl at that
time. But Jane's mother always told her that
if she tried hard enough and believed in herself,
she would find a way. In 1956, a close friend
named Marie-Claud (know as 'Clo') Mange invited
her to Kenya. To earn money for her fare to
and from Africa, Jane quit her job, moved back
home and became a waitress. That summer she
"worked herself to the bone." Finally,
in 1957, Jane embarked on her ocean voyage to
Kenya. Once there, she met famed anthropologist
and archeologist Louis S.B. Leakey. He hired
Jane as an assistant/secretary, and eventually
asked if she would be interested in studying
a group of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania.
Why did Dr. Jane’s
mom go to Africa with Dr. Jane?
At first, British authorities resisted the
idea of a young woman living among wild animals
in Africa. But they finally agreed to Louis
Leakey's proposal when Jane's mother, Vanne,
volunteered to accompany her for several months.
What is Dr. Jane’s
favorite animal?
As you might have guessed, Dr. Jane loves all
animals, but chimpanzees will always hold a
special place in her heart.
How old was Dr.
Jane when she started working with chimpanzees?
Dr. Jane was 26 years old when she arrived
on Lake Tanganyika in East Africa to study the
area's chimpanzee population.
Is David Greybeard
Dr. Jane’s favorite chimpanzee?
David Greybeard is among Dr. Jane’s favorite
chimpanzees. He was the first chimpanzee to
trust Dr. Jane enough to approach her. He was
also one of the chimpanzees Jane first observed
making and using a tool to "fish"
for termites.
Does Dr. Jane communicate
with chimpanzees?
Jane mostly observes the chimpanzees. But sometimes
she and the other scientists have to communicate
a message -- for example, that they are not
threats. They will do this by avoiding direct
eye contact with the chimpanzees and having
a submissive posture (such as a crouch).
How many chimps
are left in the wild?
At the turn of the century, at least 1 or possibly
closer to 2 million chimpanzees were in 25 countries
across West and Central Africa. Now, they number
about 150,000 in all of Africa. Habitat loss,
bushmeat hunting and poaching for infants are
the three major causes for the decline of chimpanzees
in the wild.
What
do chimpanzees eat and drink?
Chimpanzees drink water. They eat fruits, nuts,
seeds, blossoms, leaves and insects. Dr. Jane
discovered that chimpanzees also eat the meat
of smaller mammals. Before Dr. Jane’s
discovery, chimpanzees were believed to be primarily
vegetarians.
What is the difference
between a chimpanzee and a monkey?
One of the biggest differences is that most
monkey species have tails, whereas chimpanzees
and other apes do not. Chimpanzees and other
apes are much more similar to human beings in
many respects. For more information, click
here.
Do chimpanzees
fight with each other?
Dr. Jane discovered that chimpanzees do fight.
Chimpanzees even engage in a primitive form
of brutal “warfare.” In early 1974,
a four-year war began at Gombe, the first record
of long-term warfare in nonhuman primates.
Do chimpanzees
swim?
In general chimpanzees do not like to swim.
Chimpanzees have stocky bodies that prevent
them from being strong swimmers. Many chimpanzees,
however, enjoy splashing around and playing
in water.
Is 43 years
in chimp years 43 years in human? Or is one
chimp year like 7 human years?
We all have heard a year in a dog’s life
is equal to seven years in a human’s life.
This is not true for chimpanzees. Chimpanzees
are like us humans in so many ways, including
how they age. In the wild, chimps can live to
be 50 years old, while those in captivity can
reach their sixties.
Africa’s oldest known chimpanzee, Gregoire,
celebrated his 60th birthday in 2004! Gregoire,
who was rescued in 1997 from terrible conditions
at the Brazzaville Zoo, lives a life of peace,
relaxation and fun at the Jane Goodall Institute’s
Tchimpunga Sanctuary in Africa. Dr. Goodall
visited Gregoire on his special day, presenting
him with a box full of oranges. He even had
a birthday cake which he happily shared with
the other chimps at the sanctuary.
Further Research
Jane Goodall's
biography
Jane's list of publications
News
about Jane
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