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Voices of Gombe: Magical Moments 

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By on Conservation, Science & Technology

This July 14, we’re celebrating both 🔗 World Chimpanzee Day and the 65th anniversary of research at what is now Gombe National Park. But how do you capture the wonder of 65 years of ongoing studies? To quote Dr. Jane Goodall, the best way to get to the heart is with stories. 

In our last segment, we introduced you to some of the 🔗 great minds of Gombe research. Now, learn what has inspired them throughout their connection to Gombe. 

From tool use to new species, Gombe has brought us so much new knowledge on local wildlife. One scientist had a different favorite insight. 

“My favorite insight, or the one that still wows me, was when I did finish the genetics from my dissertation. I looked at the [red-tailed monkeys, the blue monkeys], and the hybrids for these different genetic markers, to try to understand the history of the relationship between the two species, about the hybridization.  

What was so exciting and surprising was that all the blue monkeys in Gombe — they behave like blue monkeys, they give the alarm calls, they have the species-specific coloring in their hair, they have the body size. They are blue monkeys. But when I screened them for the mitochondrial marker for blue monkeys, every single blue monkey at Gombe had the red tail marker. 

This is the evidence that this hybrid zone has been going on for a long time, so it gave insight into the history of this landscape for these two species. All the blue monkeys that we see today are descendants from hybridization events in the past, and this is really exciting because blues and red tails are two different species — they’re closely related in terms of the big picture and evolution, but we have a lot of evidence that their split in the evolutionary tree happened like 5 million years ago.” 

– Dr. Kate Detwiler, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Department, Florida Atlantic University 

We wanted to get a bit personal, so we then asked for our scientists’ favorite stories from being in Gombe. We received many different stories in response to this question, from the heartfelt… 

“There was a fascinating thing which happened to a chimpanzee called Goblin. He was the alpha male, and he ruled as something of a thug. But eventually he was deposed by a smaller, but maybe more socially active, male called Wilkie … He had long time away, but with our help, he got better.  

*Dr. Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute do not endorse handling or close proximity to wildlife. The image above reflects a historical context.*

He decided one day to join the group, and he went in in his full persona as alpha male — that’s to say he went in displaying with his hair out, pant hooting, making a lot of noise. And instead of the party he met responding respectfully, they were shocked. They did not accept him as alpha male, and they had to chase him out. 

So, he was in exile again, but when he rejoined the group [again], he came in first of all stealthily by meeting everybody one by one on their own, so they knew he was alive and well and didn’t mean them harm. And secondly, when he got in, he was in the position that he needed help from everybody. And the one who would help him most was the alpha male [Wilkie]. The alpha male also is looking at everybody who’s challenging him, and they’re all his enemies except Goblin, who is beaten already. So, Goblin became the number two male, they were a perfect pair.” 

Dr. Anthony Collins, Director of Baboon Research at JGI’s Gombe Stream National Park 

“One of my favorite stories is meeting Jane for the first time in Gombe in 2000. I had the chance to share with her the satellite imagery showing change in Gombe habitats inside and outside the park from Landsat satellite images between 1972 and 1999. And when I was able to also share the historical aerial photos of Gombe since 1947 and early 50s, before Jane arrived, her appreciation and feeling about the magic moment of being able together to travel in time, in order to develop this common understanding of how the habitat changed. 

And a similar moment was bringing the same imagery to the elders . . . and other long-term Gombe field researchers, and seeing how they see those habitats — the vegetation types, streams, hills, stones, individual trees — and realizing how much more knowledge and information about this place exists which we cannot see, and truly appreciating the traditional knowledge and how it is different and it’s complimenting the more scientific, data-driven ways of mapping and understanding our world.” 

Dr. Lilian Pintea, Vice President Conservation Science, JGI USA 

… to the thrilling …  

“My husband and I worked together on my dissertation field work, so he was my field assistant, and we were in Gombe from the summer of 2004 to the summer of 2005. That was when I was conducting the field work for my PhD. One of the big questions was to look at the genetics of the hybrid zone, so we collected samples throughout the park, and that was pretty tough because you had to find the monkeys, watch them defecate, and then go and collect that poop from that known individual.  

We were really excited — we saw a female, it was a female from a group we hadn’t sampled, she defecated, and we were determined to go get it. We spent the time finding the tree, got in, went under the canopy, covered with leaves, so it was dark and we were both there. We weren’t talking because we were concentrating so much, and we got in, and we got our tubes open, and we were just about to make the collection. We both looked at each other and we realize there were footsteps really close; we both were sure it wasn’t humans, and we were pretty sure it was the chimps. 

We hadn’t seen any chimps, we hadn’t heard any calls, it was completely silent in the forest. The monkeys had already left and sure enough, these three big males with their hair all erect in their search — the boundary behavior — came right in and encircled us and we just sat there and stared at our samples. We could hear them breathing. We didn’t look at them and you just knew they were investigating — they were making sure they knew what was going on and it wasn’t something dangerous. And then they left. And it was this just incredible experience of being the animal observed by the chimps.” 

Kate Detwiler 

… many moments of laughter …  

“I have way too many to choose from, but a funny one I like to tell is about the time the chimpanzee Ferdinand pooped on my head on my birthday. I went with the field researchers to celebrate and spent the day following Sheldon, Ferdinand, and Maua. As the evening ended, we watched a group of chimpanzees build their nests for the night high in the trees. We were standing underneath them when I got the full experience of what it feels like to chimpanzee poop to land on my head. Thankfully, we had plenty of tissues and hand sanitizer with us, so we cleaned it off right away. We decided it had to be good luck.” 

Dr. Jessica Deere, Emory University 

… and lots — we mean LOTS — of ants! 

“It’s really very funny because when I joined Gombe back in the early 2000s, I came during the rainy season and by then [there were many]African ants, which they are very aggressive. … And you know, when you’ve had a very long day in the field, what you just want to do is just to sleep and prepare yourself for the next day, but in the middle of the night you have these visitors . . . So it went for over a week. And at the last moment when I said, ‘well, I think I have to rethink my presence here,’ that night they didn’t come, and the rest is history.” 

Dr. Deus Mjungu, Director of JGI’s Gombe Stream Research Center 

“One of my favorite Gombe memories involves my fellow PhD student Abby McClain, and our two amazing research assistants, Raith Bosha and Yazidu Mazogo. When following chimpanzees at Gombe, it is very important to watch where you step! Not only because of the dense foliage and presence of snakes and scorpions, but because of the ants or siafu as they are known there. The ants form these beautiful trails and pattens on the ground and if you are not careful, you will accidentally step on one and have ants running up and down your arms and legs.  

One day, while following a chimpanzee named Nyota, myself and Yazidu accidentally stumbled into a siafu nest. We were so determined not to lose the chimps, we didn’t bother to look at where we were standing! We quickly realized our mistake and both ran back towards the path shouting “siafu, siafu!” to warn our fellow researchers. Yazidu and I ran out of the trees and ripped off our socks and shoes to try and wipe the ants away. It was so funny to the other researchers with us and to ourselves once the ants were gone. We did end up losing the chimps for a little while and we have the ant bites to prove it! I will remember that day forever.” 

Sims Patton, PhD candidate at The George Washington University 

“[It’s] quite satisfying to see some of the chimpanzees doing ant-dipping and then eating those ants, which I felt very, you know, like we were having sort of a synergistic relationship where they were helping us out by having some nibbles on the ants that were causing me a little bit of strife there in my first couple weeks in the field. Yeah, the siafu — watch for them.” 

Abby McClain, PhD candidate at The George Washington University 

But what convinced these scientists to go out there and brave the swarms of ants for a glimpse at Gombe’s other wildlife? For many, it was Jane who lit that spark of curiosity! 

“Dr. Jane Goodall has inspired me by not only being a pioneer in the field of primatology but also an icon for women in STEM. More specifically, women in the field! For example, while I was in Gombe for my first field season, I was very intimidated by the terrain and how physical following chimpanzees was. When I started to think about giving up or how tired I was, I remembered Jane and how brave and strong she was to come to Gombe and follow chimps on her own. She inspired me to keep going and continue her legacy of women in the forest collecting data.  

She also inspired myself and fellow graduate student Abby McClain to hire a female research assistant who will help us collect data at Gombe for the remainder of the year. Dr. Goodall is an example for women everywhere that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to — including following wild chimpanzees!” 

Sims Patton 

“I would say inspirational is the right word when thinking about everything that Dr. Goodall has done for not only young women in the science fields and field research as a subset of that, but for all young scientists. [She] was such a big part of [my]growing up and being interested in the natural world and thinking about humanity’s place in the world and what chimpanzees might have to teach us about ourselves and also their own unique diversity and interesting behaviors.  

I remembered recently that in the fifth grade we were doing living museums and I really, really, really wanted to be Jane Goodall during that living museum showcase. I was not chosen, but I like to think that somewhere in the back of my brain that has sort of stuck with me and maybe played a small role in getting me where I am today, working with the chimpanzee data sets and doing fieldwork.  

It’s just a testament to a lot of people’s time and effort and skill and hard work over the last 65 years that Gombe is able to produce the research and conservation outputs that it does. But none of that would have been possible without the first step, which was from Jane.” 

Abby McClain 

“Jane’s work has inspired me since I was a child. Her compassion, perseverance, and curiosity showed me that science could be both rigorous and deeply human. As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve come to admire not only her groundbreaking research, but also her commitment to advocacy and community-centered conservation. Jane’s ability to connect people to animals continues to guide my work today, especially in efforts to bridge public health and conservation. Being part of the Gombe research legacy she helped create is a great honor.” 

Dr. Jessica Deere 

Through hard work, laughs, and many insect bites, Gombe Stream Research Center — and the team of researchers and field assistants who keep it going — continue to inspire us.  

But the work at Gombe has just begun. 🔗 What comes next? 

P.S. to hear more exciting updates from Gombe research, follow us at @janegoodallinst on social media! 

Photo/video credits, in order of appearance: JGI/Jane Goodall, Kate Detwiler, Jane Goodall Institute, JGI/Bill Wallauer, JGI/Hugo van Lawick, Michael Neugebauer, JGI/Shawn Sweeney

About Author

Kira is the communications coordinator for JGI programs at the Jane Goodall Institute USA, where she supports the team in advancing public engagement with JGI's holistic programs. Kira graduated from Smith College in 2021, majoring in anthropology and minoring in art history, and during her time there she developed a deep interest in the field of anthrozoology. Her interests within this field are broad, and have led her to study elephant iconography in the U.S. and wildlife management in Tanzania. JGI's values and mission as well as the mindset of anthrozoology guide her work, exploring the interactions between humans and other animals in order to promote a healthier coexistence on this shared planet.

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