Jane Goodall: From Blonde Legs to Termite-Fishing Legend
Jane Goodall, the secretarial dreamer turned primate whisperer, died at 91 on a California tour doing what she loved: presumably counting chimps or avoiding formal college debt. Starting in 1957 Kenya with Louis Leakey's 'let's send a secretary to study chimps' gamble, she famously donned black Converse for tree-bound gossip sessions with David Greybeard, the chimp who invented twig fishing circa 1960. Despite some scientistsâ tantrums over her chimp nicknames and National Geographicâs demand for âhair washing by streamâ shots, she snagged a PhD by 1965 without a bachelor's. Married to wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick in '64, divorced by '74, then remarried a national parks director. Later, Jane launched her eponymous institute, stomping out chimp habitat loss from '77, lobbying NIH to give lab chimps better conditions by the '80s, and empowering youth with Roots & Shoots in '91âall while chimps apparently conducted wars, baby-snatching, and tool crafting right under her nose. Who knew ragtag twig-fishing primates could out-human humans?
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Jane Goodall was basically the original girl boss who crashed the all-boys club in Africa, named chimps like pets, and taught us wild animals not only fight wars but also casually fish termites. Turns out humans arenât the only drama queens on the planet.
Turns out chimps have personalities, make tools, and wage warsânot bad for a bunch of fur-covered freeloaders. Jane Goodallâs legacy: proving weâre just glorified, walking jungle gym monkeys.
Jane Goodall got stuck having to wash her hair in a stream for National Geographic, all while chimps casually proved humans werenât the only tool users. Looks like fashion was secondary to jungle anthropology.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 10/1/2025 | Author: Hilary Brueck
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