NC

to the hidden world of Gombe’s chimpanzees.
Within two weeks Jane observed David Greybeard
again, but this time what she witnessed
was truly game-changing. Squatting by a termite
mound, he picked a blade of grass and poked it
into a tunnel. When he pulled it out, it was covered
with termites, which he slurped down. In
another instance, Jane saw him pick a twig and
strip it of leaves before using it to fish for termites.
David Greybeard had exhibited tool use
and toolmaking—two things that previously only
humans were believed capable of.
When Jane cabled the news to Louis Leakey,
he sent this response:
EVERYONE’S A CRITIC
Jane shows a photo of an adult chimp
to infant Flint. Before Hugo built a
darkroom at Gombe, he had to ship
to be developed. It would be weeks
before he’d receive feedback on the
photos’ exposure or subject matter.
NOW WE MUST REDEFINE TOOL STOP
REDEFINE MAN STOP
OR ACCEPT CHIMPANZEES AS HUMAN
In the wake of these discoveries, National Geographic
gave Jane a grant to continue her work
at Gombe.
AS JANE BEGAN to write up and publish her field
research, she met with skepticism from the scientific
community. After all, she had no science
training—no degree other than a secretarial certificate
affirming that she could touch-type.
In the spring of 1962, Jane gave a presentation
at the Zoological Society of London’s primate
symposium and impressed many in attendance,
including zoologist and author Desmond Morris.
But she also faced derision. A society officer
delivered a thinly veiled critique of her work as
“anecdote and … speculation” that made no “real
contribution to science.” An Associated Press
report began with this: “A willowy blonde with
more time for monkeys than men told today how
she spent 15 months in the jungle to study the
habits of the apes.”
A photographic record of Jane’s discoveries
would put them beyond dispute. But Jane rebuffed
National Geographic’s request to send
a photographer, saying a stranger might disrupt
the relationship she was building with the
chimps. After spending months getting close
enough to even be in camera range, “I want to