# How does Jane Goodall stay alive being around chimps?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 31, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949 "2013-01-31T20:48:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/1 "2013-01-31T20:48:28Z")
We hear stories once in a while about how someone got too close to a chimp, and ended up with some involuntary, unscheduled amputations–but Jane Goodall has made her life studying chimps, and somehow never managed to tick one off, at least, not seriously enough to make any news. What’s her secret?
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/2 "2013-01-31T20:52:45Z")
I don’t think Goodall probably inserts herself into an enviornment incredibly gradually. That, coupled with her experience and sense of chimps mannerisms and body language, probably goes a long ways towards keeping her whole.
People who have had unfortunate tangles with primates probably interrupted the primates environment dramatically, and/or didn’t have the awareness or wisdom to get while the getting was good.
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### Author:  [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/3 "2013-01-31T20:56:13Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> I don’t think Goodall probably inserts herself into an enviornment incredibly gradually. That, coupled with her experience and sense of chimps mannerisms and body language, probably goes a long ways towards keeping her whole.
This, plus a big dose of luck. She’s always known and accepted that doing fieldwork around chimps means taking a risk of being hurt by them. (I wonder if her acceptance of that paradoxically means she’s more relaxed when she’s around them, and thus less likely to make the chimps tense and nervous?)
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/4 "2013-01-31T21:07:47Z")
> [@artemis](#):
>
> This, plus a big dose of luck. She’s always known and accepted that doing fieldwork around chimps means taking a risk of being hurt by them. (I wonder if her acceptance of that paradoxically means she’s more relaxed when she’s around them, and thus less likely to make the chimps tense and nervous?)
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> I don’t think Goodall probably inserts herself into an enviornment incredibly gradually. That, coupled with her experience and sense of chimps mannerisms and body language, probably goes a long ways towards keeping her whole.
D’oh! I mean “I THINK Goodall probably inserts herself…gradually.” Started the sentence with one thought and ended with another.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/5 "2013-01-31T21:16:14Z")
Keep in mind that she is interacting with wild chimps, not ones that have been locked up for years. These wild animals interact peaceably with lots of other species without tearing them apart.
In the films I have seen of her she is always crouched down or sitting on the ground in a passive manner, and never threatening them in any way. A pissed off chimp could easily attack her, but why would they?
If she doesn’t threaten them, and they have a way to get away as opposed to attacking defensively, the risk really isn’t that high, and remember that she is an expert in chimp behavior and can tell if there is problem chimp that she needs to be weary of.
I have worked around chimps in a large animal park and they were rarely aggressive and can be very curious. If a chimp felt threatened or nervous it would keep it’s distance. Chimps are smart animals and will run away from a fight if it suits them.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/6 "2013-01-31T21:17:49Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> People who have had unfortunate tangles with primates probably interrupted the primates environment dramatically, and/or didn’t have the awareness or wisdom to get while the getting was good.
…or are keeping them in unnatural environments (like a suburban home) and treating them not as wild animals who should be respected as such, but as “family members.”
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/7 "2013-01-31T21:18:37Z")
I’m guessing she isn’t hanging out with “crazy cat lady” raised chimps that are sick and tired of being treated like a human baby when in actuality, they are chimp teenagers and just want to fight and fuck.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/8 "2013-01-31T21:34:33Z")
Also, she may have a discretely placed assistant or grad student armed with a rifle hanging in the background. My impression is that she’s rarely alone in the field.
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### Author:  [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/9 "2013-01-31T21:44:38Z")
> [@sitchensis](#):
>
> I’m guessing she isn’t hanging out with “crazy cat lady” raised chimps that are sick and tired of being treated like a human baby when in actuality, they are chimp teenagers and just want to fight and fuck.
And that reminds me of those pesky rumors …
Which, if true, could be what keeps her safe. Or, it could have the exact opposite effect.
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### Author:  [@Stinky\_Pete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinky_Pete)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/10 "2013-01-31T22:49:17Z")
The posts above have the right answer. If you watch her films she does explain how she managed to get near the apes.
1 Goodall knew ape body language and very carefully only used non-threatening body language. For instance she would not make direct eye contact which for some animals is unnerving.
2 Goodall would eat the local flora and showed complete disinterest in the apes. She never really went towards the apes. She kept herself in their vicinity, they grew accustomed to her non-threatening presence and her smell, and the apes eventually came closer and closer to her, eventually the apes came right up to Goodall and even touched her. Apes are curious animals. Only over a long period of time did the apes come to accept Goodall in their vicinity.
3 Some apes did aggressively charge at Goodall. Goodall DID NOT flee nor did she try to defend herself. She used passive ape behavior, did not make eye contact, and behaved with total submission to the charging apes. The was enough to keep the aggressive apes from actually physically attacking her. The apes who would charge at her were the dominant alpha males and once the alpha males were satisfied with her submissiveness they were satisfied and would ignore her.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/11 "2013-02-01T00:06:53Z")
Goodall was attacked by a large aggressive male chimp named Frodo to the point of nearly having her neck broken in 1989. She kept a very great distance from Frodo afterwards. This same chimp also killed a 14 month old infant in 2002 and the Tanzanian National Parks Department seriously gave consideration to euthanizing him.
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### Author:  [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/12 "2013-02-01T01:17:50Z")
At first, I thought you meant a chimp infant. But, it was in fact a human infant and Frodo started to eat the infant as well.
That’d be one dead chimp.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/13 "2013-02-01T01:34:42Z")
Yes, I should have clarified that. The baby was brought into the territory by the niece of one of the researchers. Frodo at one time had been the alpha male in his troop, and although he had been supplanted as leader, he was still extraordinarily aggressive for a wild chimpanzee.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/14 "2013-02-01T01:53:12Z")
That’s one of the most disturbing things I’ve heard in a long time. Was the researcher related to the infant too? I assume the niece was young? Too young to know that was an extremely inadvisable thing to do?
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/15 "2013-02-01T17:12:45Z")
[Here’s a good article on Frodo, including that incident](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0304/feature4/online_extra2.html). Note that it’s not so much “inadvisable” as it is “flat-out forbidden” –
[QUOTE=National Geographic]
…the mother [the wife of one of the park attendants] probably knew that park rules bar children under 12 from visiting the park, and she almost certainly was aware of the mortal danger posed by chimps.
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/16 "2013-02-01T17:24:29Z")
> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> [Here’s a good article on Frodo, including that incident](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0304/feature4/online_extra2.html). Note that it’s not so much “inadvisable” as it is “flat-out forbidden” –
Haha! That article says that Frodo attacked Gary Larson:
> [@](#):
>
> In 1988, for example, “Far Side” cartoonist Gary Larson was the target of Frodo’s belligerence. Larson walked away from the tussle with only bruises and scratches, but his caricatures of primates as malevolent geniuses gained a sudden authenticity.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/17 "2013-02-01T17:32:34Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#):
>
> Haha! That article says that Frodo attacked Gary Larson:
Well, that is one fucked up chimp then.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/18 "2013-02-01T17:36:44Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> Keep in mind that she is interacting with wild chimps, not ones that have been locked up for years. These wild animals interact peaceably with lots of other species without tearing them apart.
Actually, [some of those other species (and even the chimps themselves) do get torn apart:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall#Research_at_Gombe_Stream_National_Park)
> [@Wikipedia](#):
>
> In contrast to the peaceful and affectionate behaviors she observed, Goodall also found an aggressive side of chimp nature at Gombe Stream. She discovered that chimps will systematically hunt and eat smaller primates such as colobus monkeys. Goodall watched a hunting group isolate a colobus monkey high in a tree, block all possible exits, then one chimpanzee climbed up and captured and killed the colobus. The others then each took parts of the carcass, sharing with other members of the troop in response to begging behaviours. The chimps at Gombe kill and eat as much as one-third of the colobus population in the park each year. This alone was a major scientific find which challenged previous conceptions of chimp diet and behavior.
>
> But perhaps more startling, and disturbing, was the tendency for aggression and violence within chimpanzee troops. Goodall observed dominant females deliberately killing the young of other females in the troop in order to maintain their dominance, sometimes going as far as cannibalism. She says of this revelation, “During the first ten years of the study I had believed […] that the Gombe chimpanzees were, for the most part, rather nicer than human beings. […] Then suddenly we found that chimpanzees could be brutal—that they, like us, had a darker side to their nature.” These findings revolutionized contemporary knowledge of chimpanzee behaviour, and were further evidence of the social similarities between humans and chimpanzees, albeit in a much darker manner.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/19 "2017-10-22T21:38:47Z")
If anyone is still interested in this question there is a new documentary out about her research:
> [@](#):
>
> National Geographic funding Goodall’s work and hired van Lawick to film it. He was there to capture Goodall’s repeated failures, as chimps fled whenever she got close. But he also captured footage as chimps started to treat the field camp as a source of food, habituating themselves to a human presence. Goodall encouraged them by putting up feeding stations and became attached enough to her subjects to give them names and recognize their personalities.
> **[How Jane Goodall became Jane Goodall](https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/10/how-jane-goodall-became-jane-goodall/)**
>
> New documentary is based on footage from the man who would become Goodall's ex-husband.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-jane-goodall-stay-alive-being-around-chimps/648949/20 "2017-10-22T21:55:42Z")
Interesting that the article talks about how Goodall supposedly “upper her scientific game” during her work with chimps.
Since this thread was started, [it’s become evident that her game has suffered](https://www.thedailybeast.com/jane-goodalls-troubling-error-filled-new-book-seeds-of-hope), and her reputation along with it.
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