Jane Goodall - Through a window: my thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe

First Mariner Books edition 2000

Copyright 1990 by Soko Publications Limited
Preface copyright 2010 by Jane Goodall
Afterword copyright 2010 by Jane Goodall

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print version as follows:
Goodall, Jane, date.
Through a window : my thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe / Jane Goodall.1st Mariner Books ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-547-33695-4
1. ChimpanzeesBehaviorTanzaniaGombe Stream National Park. I. Title.
QL 737. P 96 G 5877 2000
599.88509678dc22 2009045230

Appendix illustrations are by David Bygott.

e ISBN 978-0-547-48838-7
v3.1114

To the chimpanzees of the world, those still living free in the wild and those held captive and enslaved by humans. For all that they have contributed to knowledge and understanding.

And to all those who have helped and who are helping in the fight to conserve the chimpanzees in Africa and to bring comfort and new hope to those in captivity.

And in memory of Derek.

2010 MARKS THE FIFTIETH YEAR of wildlife research, conservation and education at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. As I sit, thinking back over those five decades, I am struck by sciences increased understanding and acceptance of ways in which chimpanzees and humans resemble each other, not only biologically but intellectually and behaviourally. We now know that the DNA of humans and chimpanzees differs by only just over one per cent, and in recent years, as first the human and then the chimpanzee genomes were unraveled, it seems that the main difference in our genetic makeup lays in the expression of the genes.

When I began my observations in 1960 it was still commonly believed that there was a difference of kind, not just degree, separating humans and the rest of the animal kingdom, that there was a sharp line between us and them. Chimpanzees were used in medical research because of similarities in genetic composition, structure of the blood, functioning of the immune system and structure of the brainand it was acceptable to place them in solitary confinement, in five-by-five, seven-foot-high laboratory cages, because (it was asserted) they, unlike us, did not have personalities, minds capable of rational thought or emotions.

Gradually, however, the accumulation of data from various studies of primates, elephants, wolves, dolphins and so on has led most scientists to rethink their attitudes towards non-human creatures. It became increasingly clear that reductionist explanations were inappropriate for the understanding of complex behaviour in species with complex brains. So today, in major universities around the world, it is possible to study the mind and even the personality and emotions of other-than-human animals.

Moreover, in the twenty years since the publication of Through a Window it has gradually become acceptable to talk of cultural behaviourthat is, behaviour passed from one generation to the next through observational learningin chimpanzees and other intelligent animals. Data from chimpanzee field study sites across Africa have provided rich examples of variations in behaviour among different populations, especially obvious in the making and use of tools. Dr. Andy Whiten of St. Andrews University has worked tirelessly to gather detailed information from all of these long-term field sites across Africa.

It is now recognized that intergroup aggression is not unique to the Gombe and Mahale chimpanzees. In other words, it cannot be characterized as abnormal behaviour caused by feeding them bananas, as some scientists once maintained. Instead it seems to be a widespread characteristic of chimpanzee societies. Attacks by other chimpanzees are the second most frequent cause of death at Gombe, after disease.

Through a Window contains sometimes grim descriptions of chimpanzees afflicted with a variety of diseases. Analysis of the data over the years shows that disease is the main cause of death for chimpanzees at Gombe and elsewhere. While some disease agents, including the SIVcpz virus (a variant of which was the precursor to HIV-1 in humans, which causes AIDS), are endemic to chimpanzees, others, such as respiratory viruses that sometimes cause lethal epidemics, have recently been shown to come from humans. Because chimpanzees can catch diseases from humans, we have established regulations regarding the distance of observer to chimpanzee, and our colleagues at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago have helped set up a health-monitoring programme so that we can learn more about health issues and, in particular, about the transmission of disease between humans, chimpanzees and baboons.

New Technologies

Since I began my field study in 1960 many new tools have become available to those studying animal behaviour, affecting both the collection of data in the field and its subsequent analysis. I started with paper, pencil and binoculars. Next I acquired a camera, a small telescope and a manual typewriter for transcribing notes. Then came crude maps for plotting ranging patterns, tape recorders, time sampling methods and check sheets. This was the stage we had reached when I finished writing Through a Window. Today we make use of video footage and sophisticated technologyglobal positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and satellite imageryfor creating maps. High-quality microphones, portable digital recorders and computer software all help to better understand chimpanzees vocal communication.

Computerizing the Data

Skilled computer programming enables remarkably sophisticated and timely data analysis. Fifty years worth of observations, written reports, check sheets, tapes, still photographs, video clipsall of these records and more comprise the long-term database. Dr. Anne Pusey, who first worked at Gombe in the early 1970s, gathered this precious information from the various places it was storedsome from Cambridge, Stanford and other universities, but much from Gombe and my house in Dar es Salaam, where I had hand analyzed it for The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Anne rescued it in time from the ravages of humidity, insects and rats! Under her direction all these data are gradually being scanned, entered into computers and analysed by undergraduate and graduate students. These data have resulted in many papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Facts from Faeces

In the early days we learned a good deal about rarely eaten foodssuch as meatby examining chimpanzee poo. Now we know faeces may contain a fascinating variety of other information that could at one time be obtained only by collecting blood samplesout of the question at Gombe. Amazingly, a faecal sample can be used for DNA profiling of the individual who provides it. This work by Anne Puseys graduate students from the University of MinnesotaJulie Constable and Emily Wroblewskihas provided us with DNA identification of almost all the Gombe chimpanzees. And this has enabled us, for the first time, to determine paternity. Previously we could never be absolutely certain which male had fathered which infantonly if the mother had been on a consortship with a particular male at the probable time of conception and no other male had appeared during those days to steal a copulation, could we be reasonably sure! And that meant following the couple day in and day out for the duration.

The DNA information reveals that alpha males are the most successful in fathering infants but that mid- and low-ranking males have greater success than predicted by their rank. This is because they are able to impregnate females when they take them on consortships. Most high-ranking males avoid this strategy, preferring to stay in the group to avoid aggressive displays against them on their return. Also, lower-ranking males are able to father the offspring of younger females who are less desirable to the high-ranking males. Finally, it is possible that young but still low-ranking males are more potent and that this benefits them when several males in the group mate with a female.