Jane Goodall Facts

Jane Goodall Facts

A well known primatologist, humanitarian and animal rights campaigner, Jane Goodall is famous for her detailed studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania, observing how they interacted in family and social situations. Read on for interesting facts and information about the scientist Jane Goodall.

• Born on the 3rd of April 1934, Jane Goodall is a British primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist.
• Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, it supports research while actively running a range of conservation programs to protect chimpanzees and the environment.
• Goodall studied chimpanzees in great detail, learning how they lived in groups, problem solved and interacted with their environment. She discovered that chimpanzees had the mental capacity to not only use simple tools but to actually make them as well, something that was previously thought to be uniquely human.
• Unlike most researchers, Goodall named the animals that were part of her studies, normally numbers were assigned in order to remove the possibility of the researcher becoming attached to the subjects. Her unique methods stood out and were at times subject to criticism.
• Goodall’s work is similar to that of Dian Fossey, a famous American zoologist who completed a long study of Gorillas in Rwanda, releasing a book titled ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ which later went on to become a well known movie.
• Goodall is a strong supporter of animal rights and has been part of many animal rights organizations. She was the president of Advocates for Animals from 1998 to 2008.
• Goodall has been awarded many honors for her tireless work. These include the Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the Rainforest Alliance Champion Award, The Primate Society of Great Britain Conservation Award, as well as being named as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2002