How did David Greybeard help Jane Goodall revolutionize primate research? All about the first chimp to "trust" late zoologist

David Greybeard, Jane Goodall's favorite chimpanzee, helped the English primatologist to understand chimpanzees better. Goodall went to Gombe, Tanzania, in 1960 to study chimpanzees in their natural habitat through the Kasekela chimpanzee community. Her work became one of the longest studies of animals in their natural environment. The chimpanzees she studied were living near Lake Tanganyika.

Out of this tribe of chimpanzees, one of them stood out to Jane because of how he decided to trust her. Greybeard was the first chimpanzee to put his guard down and allow Goodall to study the lives of other chimpanzees in depth.

Eight years later, Greybeard passed away, but while Goodall was alive, she continued to share stories about her favorite chimpanzee. On October 1, Jane Goodall passed away at the age of 91.

What discovery did Jane Goodall make through David Greybeard?

In the same year she went to study chimpanzees in Gombe, Jane Goodall was observing Greybeard when she saw him using a fascinating method to extract termites.

Greybeard was using a grass stalk as a tool to take out the termites from their mound. Before this, the usage of tools was clearly understood as a human trait. But Greybeard changed that very perception. His actions also managed to change the relationship between animals and humans.

Jane Goodall still talks about David Greybeard years after his passing

In an Instagram post from 2022, Jane Goodall's Instagram account shared a photo of Greybeard eating a banana, and wrote in the caption:

"#TBT Dr. Goodall is often asked whether she has a favorite chimpanzee, and the answer is a very special chimpanzee named David Greybeard! David was the very first individual to trust Jane when she began her observations in Gombe, Tanzania in 1960. Though It took a long time and patience, David Greybeard lost his fear of Jane and became the door into the incredible lives of the other chimpanzees of Gombe!"

The post continued:

"David Greybeard was also the first chimpanzee that Dr. Goodall observed using handmade tools to fish for termites - forever redefining our relationship to the rest of the animal kingdom. In 1968, kind and gentle David Greybeard passed away but his memory lives on in the stories Dr. Goodall continues to share about him."

Even after more than five decades since his passing, Goodall still remembers the special chimpanzee who trusted her and gave her a glimpse into a primate's life.

The post also mentioned that the studies are still going on, and it is one of the longest studies on wild chimpanzees in the world.

Greybeard's trust not only opened the door for Jane Goodall to study chimpanzees more closely but also led to one of the most groundbreaking discoveries in science, revealing that tool use is not unique to humans. His legacy lives on through Goodall's stories and the continuing research in Gombe.

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