My Life with the Chimpanzees

Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe National Park on July 16, 1960, at the age of 26. On her first day of exploration, she encountered a troop of baboons and got close to a red-gold bushbuck, a type of antelope. The next day, she had her first significant interaction with a chimpanzee, whom she named David Greybeard. Over the next month, Goodall felt a growing connection with David. Her most thrilling observation occurred when she saw David Greybeard use a piece of grass to fish for termites; he then switched to a twig when the grass got bent. This discovery of tool use by chimpanzees excited her and Leakey. Goodall also noted the chimpanzees’ apparent discomfort in the rain and expressed surprise that despite their intelligence and ability to use tools, they had not learned to build shelters. She describes an encounter with a group of male chimpanzees during a rainstorm, where she found herself surrounded and threatened by their aggressive displays. A large male chimp charged toward her but swerved away at the last moment. The encounter left Goodall shaken. She also became acutely aware of chimpanzees’ physical strength despite their relatively small size.

Goodall began to recognize individual chimpanzees, becoming familiar with several.