Through a Window
Authors: Jane Goodall
My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe
Jane Goodall
Table of Contents
ABOUT THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE
MARINER BOOKS
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
Boston ⢠New York
First Mariner Books edition 2000
Copyright © 1990 by Soko Publications Limited
Preface copyright © 2010 by Jane Goodall
Afterword copyright © 2010 by Jane Goodall
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from
this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goodall, Jane, date.
Through a window : my thirty years with the chimpanzees of
Gombe / Jane Goodall.â1st Mariner Books ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN
978-0-547-33695-4
1. ChimpanzeesâBehaviorâTanzaniaâGombe Stream
National Park. I. Title.
QL
737.
P
96
G
5877 2000
599.88509678âdc22 2009045230
Book design by Melissa Lotfy
Appendix illustrations are by David Bygott.
Printed in the United States of America
DOC
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on 100 percent postconsumer-waste recycled stock.
CONTENTSTo the chimpanzees of the world, those still living free in the wild and those held captive and enslaved by humans. For all that they have contributed to knowledge and understanding.
And to all those who have helped and who are helping in the fight to conserve the chimpanzees in Africa and to bring comfort and new hope to those in captivity.
And in memory of Derek.
PREFACE
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1
GOMBE
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2
THE MIND OF THE CHIMPANZEE
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3
THE RESEARCH CENTRE
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4
MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
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5
FIGAN'S RISE
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6
POWER
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7
CHANGE
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8
GILKA
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9
SEX
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10
WAR
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11
SONS AND MOTHERS
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12
BABOONS
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13
GOBLIN
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14
JOMEO
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15
MELISSA
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16
GIGI
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17
LOVE
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18
BRIDGING THE GAP
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19
OUR SHAME
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20
CONCLUSION
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AFTERWORD
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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APPENDIX I.
Some Thoughts on the Exploitation of Non-Human Animals
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APPENDIX II.
Chimpanzee Conservation and Sanctuaries
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GOMBE BIBLIOGRAPHY
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GOMBE RESEARCH AND SUPPORT
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INDEX
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ABOUT THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE
[>]
2010
MARKS THE FIFTIETH YEAR
of wildlife research, conservation and education at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. As I sit, thinking back over those five decades, I am struck by science's increased understanding and acceptance of ways in which chimpanzees and humans resemble each other, not only biologically but intellectually and behaviourally. We now know that the DNA of humans and chimpanzees differs by only just over one per cent, and in recent years, as first the human and then the chimpanzee genomes were unraveled, it seems that the main difference in our genetic makeup lays in the expression of the genes.
When I began my observations in 1960 it was still commonly believed that there was a difference of kind, not just degree, separating humans and the rest of the animal kingdom, that there was a sharp line between us and them. Chimpanzees were used in medical research because of similarities in genetic composition, structure of the blood, functioning of the immune system and structure of the brainâand it was acceptable to place them in solitary confinement, in five-by-five, seven-foot-high laboratory cages, because (it was asserted) they, unlike us, did not have personalities, minds capable of rational thought or emotions.
Gradually, however, the accumulation of data from various studies of primates, elephants, wolves, dolphins and so on has
led most scientists to rethink their attitudes towards non-human creatures. It became increasingly clear that reductionist explanations were inappropriate for the understanding of complex behaviour in species with complex brains. So today, in major universities around the world, it is possible to study the mind and even the personality and emotions of other-than-human animals.
Moreover, in the twenty years since the publication of
Through a Window
it has gradually become acceptable to talk of cultural behaviourâthat is, "behaviour passed from one generation to the next through observational learning"âin chimpanzees and other intelligent animals. Data from chimpanzee field study sites across Africa have provided rich examples of variations in behaviour among different populations, especially obvious in the making and use of tools. Dr. Andy Whiten of St. Andrew's University has worked tirelessly to gather detailed information from all of these long-term field sites across Africa.
It is now recognized that intergroup aggression is not unique to the Gombe and Mahale chimpanzees. In other words, it cannot be characterized as abnormal behaviour caused by feeding them bananas, as some scientists once maintained. Instead it seems to be a widespread characteristic of chimpanzee societies. Attacks by other chimpanzees are the second most frequent cause of death at Gombe, after disease.
Through a Window
contains sometimes grim descriptions of chimpanzees afflicted with a variety of diseases. Analysis of the data over the years shows that disease is the main cause of death for chimpanzees at Gombe and elsewhere. While some disease agents, including the SIVcpz virus (a variant of which was the precursor to HIV-1 in humans, which causes AIDS), are endemic to chimpanzees, others, such as respiratory viruses that sometimes cause lethal epidemics, have recently been shown to come from humans. Because chimpanzees can catch diseases from humans, we have established regulations regarding the distance of observer to chimpanzee, and our colleagues at Lincoln Park Zoo
in Chicago have helped set up a health-monitoring programme so that we can learn more about health issues and, in particular, about the transmission of disease between humans, chimpanzees and baboons.
New Technologies
Since I began my field study in 1960 many new tools have become available to those studying animal behaviour, affecting both the collection of data in the field and its subsequent analysis. I started with paper, pencil and binoculars. Next I acquired a camera, a small telescope and a manual typewriter for transcribing notes. Then came crude maps for plotting ranging patterns, tape recorders, time sampling methods and check sheets. This was the stage we had reached when I finished writing
Through a Window.
Today we make use of video footage and sophisticated technologyâglobal positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and satellite imageryâfor creating maps. High-quality microphones, portable digital recorders and computer software all help to better understand chimpanzees' vocal communication.
Computerizing the Data
Skilled computer programming enables remarkably sophisticated and timely data analysis. Fifty years worth of observations, written reports, check sheets, tapes, still photographs, video clipsâall of these records and more comprise the long-term database. Dr. Anne Pusey, who first worked at Gombe in the early 1970s, gathered this precious information from the various places it was storedâsome from Cambridge, Stanford and other universities, but much from Gombe and my house in Dar es Salaam, where I had hand analyzed it for
The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.
Anne rescued it in time from the
ravages of humidity, insects and rats! Under her direction all these data are gradually being scanned, entered into computers and analysed by undergraduate and graduate students. These data have resulted in many papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Facts from Faeces
In the early days we learned a good deal about rarely eaten foodsâsuch as meatâby examining chimpanzee poo. Now we know faeces may contain a fascinating variety of other information that could at one time be obtained only by collecting blood samplesâout of the question at Gombe. Amazingly, a faecal sample can be used for DNA profiling of the individual who provides it. This work by Anne Pusey's graduate students from the University of MinnesotaâJulie Constable and Emily Wroblewskiâhas provided us with DNA identification of almost all the Gombe chimpanzees. And this has enabled us, for the first time, to determine paternity. Previously we could never be absolutely certain which male had fathered which infantâonly if the mother had been on a consortship with a particular male at the probable time of conception and no other male had appeared during those days to steal a copulation, could we be reasonably sure! And that meant following the couple day in and day out for the duration.
The DNA information reveals that alpha males are the most successful in fathering infants but that mid- and low-ranking males have greater success than predicted by their rank. This is because they are able to impregnate females when they take them on consortships. Most high-ranking males avoid this strategy, preferring to stay in the group to avoid aggressive displays against them on their return. Also, lower-ranking males are able to father the offspring of younger females who are less desirable to the high-ranking males. Finally, it is possible that young but still low-ranking males are more potent and that this benefits them when several males in the group mate with a female.
In addition to resolving the question of paternity, DNA information has also been very useful in determining how many individuals there are in the unhabituated Kalande community. And in tracing the ranging patterns of shy females. Recently, for example, the DNA of an adolescent female was repeatedly identified from faecal samples collected in different locations: first in Kalande to the south, thenâonceâin Kasekela (the central study community) and then in Mitumba to the north, where she has now settled.
Analysis of chimpanzee faecal samples can also provide information on the levels of certain hormones so that researchers can, for example, look for correlation between dominance rank and psychological stress, which may in turn lead to a better understanding of reproductive success.
Finally, new faeces-analysis techniques have enabled amazing research into disease. Not only can parasites be identified, but sensitive assays have been developed to identify antibodies to various disease-causing organisms. Even the genomes of the viruses themselves can be sequenced from faeces. Most notable is the work by Dr. Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama and her research team, who showed that HIV-1 originated from the SIVcpz virus in chimpanzees in west-central Africa, probably through the hunting and butchering of chimpanzees by humans. To understand more about the distribution and history of SIVcpz, Beatrice screened the faeces of chimpanzees all across Africa. She found that SIVcpz was widely, but patchily, distributed across the Congo basin and that a variant of the virus also occurred in Gombe. Working with faecal samples and the recovered bodies of dead chimps collected at Gombe over the last nine years, Beatrice and a team of scientists from Gombe and around the world have been able to sequence the virus, detect transmission events from one individual to another, and start to measure the effects of the virus on health. Although the sample is small, the virus does appear to cause increased mortality and even in one
case clear signs of AIDS. But we have much more to learn about its natural history and severity and expect that continued noninvasive study at Gombe, the only habituated population known to harbor SIVcpz, will lead to a greater understanding of both SIV and HIV, which could eventually lead to breakthroughs in therapies (and prevention) for both humans and chimpanzees.
Mapping
We can now create accurate, large-scale maps that help us to better understand what has been happening in and around Gombe. GPS technology enables us to determine more accurately the location of landmarks and events. GIS technology has improved our analysis of ranging patterns, territorial behaviour, feeding locations and so on. Satellite images of Gombe and the surrounding land, dating back to the 1970s, have enabled us to document not only the devastating loss of forest and woodland outside the park but also the dramatic increase of vegetation inside the park, where national park staff have suppressed fires, allowing trees to grow, mature and spread over larger areas.