National Geographic: Among the Wild Chimpanzees Page #2

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in 12 hours

It had been another long

and frustrating day

"As I am not a defeatist

it only made my determination

to succeed stronger

I never had any

thought of quitting

I should forever have

lost all self-

respect if I had given up."

And so

days that began before dawn

reached well past midnight

And, for as long

as it would take

tomorrow would be the same

Even when there were no

chimps to be found

there was always much to be done

Samples of plants the chimps eat

would be preserved for

later identification

There was a new language to learn

tribal customs to absorb

A makeshift clinic helped cement

good relations

with the local villagers

With camp life settling into

a comfortable routine

Gombe increasingly became

Jane Goodall's private world

Though her staff was growing

outsiders till now

had not been welcome

lest they frighten the chimps

But at Louis Leakey's urging

she agreed that a permanent film

record of the chimps be made

To shield herself

and the cameraman

she built a blind

- a screen of leaves

Hugo van Lawick

is a specialist in wildlife

Primarily funded by the

National Geographic Society

over the coming years he

and Goodall would capture

details of chimp behavior

never before dreamed possible

They found that chimpanzees

are nomadic

traveling in ever changing groups

in the daily search for food

wanderings that can take them

two to six miles in a single day

They are animals of

dramatic extremes

noisy and excitable one minute

calm and gentle the next

To satisfy their hunger on a

diet that is largely vegetarian

chimps eat up to

seven hours a day

Much of their diet is fruit

but they also feed on leaves

blossoms, seeds, and stems

After congregating at a food source

several individuals may rest

and groom together

then separate once again

The only stable group within the

community is a mother and her young

Males take no part

in child rearing

Contrary to common belief

chimps do not have fleas

Mutual grooming does remove flakes

of dried skin and grass seeds

but physical contact for its own

sake seems to be the primary goal

Not much interested

in quiet pursuits

youngsters have better things to do

"The chimps very gradually

came to realize that

I was not dangerous after all

I shall never forget the day

after about 18 months when

for the first time

a small group allowed me

to approach and be near them

Finally I had been accepted

I think it was one

of the proudest

and most exciting moments

of my whole life

Chimpanzees are as distinct from

one another as are human beings

and Jane gave them names

as she came to recognize them

Old Flo, with her bulbous

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