Jane Page #4

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Perhaps he would come again.

And so the next day,

Hugo and I waited.

As the hours went by, I

began to fear that the

chimp wouldn't come.

Then a black shape

appeared on the other

side of the clearing.

I recognized him at once.

It was David Greybeard.

I could hardly believe it.

For months the chimps had been

running off when they saw me.

Now one had actually

visited my camp.

After that I always had a

supply of bananas ready.

The chimps often came to

camp looking for bananas.

And gradually they allowed

me to get closer and closer.

It was absolutely thrilling to

have the chimpanzees so close,

but the bananas feedings

were not without problems.

As they lost their fear of

us, the chimps quickly proved

to be unconscionable thieves.

They would steal blankets,

cloths from the kitchen,

shirts and pillows,

and cardboard boxes-

wonderful things to chew on.

No longer did the chimpanzees

arrive in small quiet parties.

Instead, they invaded

our camp in huge groups and

aggressive competition between

chimpanzees increased.

Occasionally, we

had to seek shelter.

And the aggression

became more serious.

In order to stop the

aggression, we decided to

create the feeding station.

With the hope that it would

control their aggressive

tendencies and bring peace.

Now, using hand operated steel

boxes we could manage the

feeding in an organized way.

As a result, we were able

to make closer observations

than ever before.

Old Flo was easy to

identify, she had a bulbous

nose and ragged ears.

Flo was the top ranked

female of her community

and could dominate all

the other females.

But none of the adult males.

For in chimpanzee society

males are the dominant sex.

One day she came to camp

with a pink swelling

on her backside.

It was a sign that she

was ready for mating.

Many of the males

quickly realized and

began their pursuit.

She was followed by a

long line of suitors.

It was from Flo

that I first learned that

in the wild female chimps do

not just have one mate.

She allowed them all

to mate with her.

And Fifi hated it.

It must

have been exciting to have

been joined by someone who

shared your passions.

-No, that's right.

We both loved being out in

nature and we both loved

the work we were doing.

We just got on very well.

Hugo's time in Gombe

was almost over.

I cared for him, and I

knew that I would miss him,

but then after he had left I

received a telegram.

When you and

Hugo decided to get married,

what were your plans?

You know honestly, we

didn't really make long term

plans, we really didn't.

We just wanted to go back

to Gombe and make films.

When we returned to Gombe,

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