Jane Goodall First to Record Chimps Eating Meat, Using Tools

 

By Augustine Felix, Oriontimes News Desk

Tanzania — In 1960, British primatologist Jane Goodall made groundbreaking discoveries at Gombe Stream National Park that redefined science’s understanding of chimpanzees and blurred the line between humans and animals.

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dall, then 26 years old, observed chimpanzees stripping leaves from twigs to fish termites from mounds, a behavior previously thought to be uniquely human. Just weeks later, she recorded chimpanzees hunting and eating colobus monkeys, proving that they were omnivores capable of organized hunting rather than strict vegetarians as earlier assumed.

Her mentor, the late anthropologist Louis Leakey, captured the shock of the scientific community when he remarked: “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as human.”

Goodall’s work not only challenged long-standing scientific beliefs but also opened new frontiers in primatology. In 1962, her findings earned her admission to Cambridge University, where she pursued doctoral studies despite not holding a prior degree.

Over the years, she went on to document the social complexity of chimpanzees, including hierarchy, maternal care, communication, and even violent intergroup conflict  behaviors once believed to belong solely to humans.

Her research at Gombe remains one of the most influential studies of wild primates in history, changing how the world views both animals and humanity itself.