Valerie Jane Goodall

Valerie Jane Goodall was born on April 3, 1934. Jane showed her love of animals even as a young child. When she was 4 years old one day her parents couldn’t find her for four hours and reported her missing. After four hours, they finally found her in the henhouse. When asked what she was doing there she told her parents that she was watching the hens to see how they laid eggs.

Her dreams of Africa began with reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting and when she was 24 years old a family friend invited Jane to visit her in Africa. While she was in Africa, Jane’s friends encouraged her to contact the famous paleontologist, Louis Leakey. Leakey was impressed by Jane’s enthusiasm and he hired her as his assistant. Jane then returned to England and studied primate anatomy and behaviour.

After finishing her studies Jane went back to Africa and started setting up her camp at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. It took two years for Jane to be completely accepted by the chimpanzee group she wanted to study. Jane’s method was to simply observe and imitate the animals. She was the one who discovered that chimpanzees not only ate vegetables and fruits but also meat. She also discovered that they hunted and used natural objects as tools.

Her work was then made into a film called Jane in 2017. It shows the close relationship between Goodall and the chimpanzees. Jane said, “Our relationship is not quite family or friends, but I’m part of their lives, and they accept me.”

Jane has been travelling, giving lectures, visiting schools, and giving the message that environmental protection is vital and that everyone can play a part. In 1991, she founded Roots & Shoots, a programme that aims to help young people to take steps “to make the world a better place for people, other animals, and the environment.” Roots & Shoots has more than 150,000 participants in 130 countries and encourages kids to take action.