For Crumb – follow your dreams

Remembering Jane Goodall, by Darren Humphrys

R.I.P. Jane Goodall

On the 1st of October 2025, scientist and global activist Dame Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest to protect the environment, died of natural causes at the age of 91.

The primatologist-turned-conservationist spun her love of wildlife into a lifelong campaign that took her from a seaside English village to Africa and then across the globe in a quest to better understand chimpanzees, as well as the role that humans play in safeguarding their habitat and the planet’s health overall.

A childhood dream takes root

Born in London in 1934 and then growing up in Bournemouth on England’s south coast, Goodall had long dreamed of living among wild animals. She said her passion for animals, stoked by the gift of a stuffed toy gorilla from her father, grew as she immersed herself in books such as Tarzan and Dr Dolittle.

Unable to afford university after leaving school, she worked as a secretary and then for a film company until a friend’s invitation to visit Kenya put the jungle — and its inhabitants — within reach. After saving up enough money for the sea journey, Goodall arrived in the East African nation in 1957. There, an encounter with the famed anthropologist and palaeontologist Dr Louis Leakey set her on course to work with primates.

A fresh pair of eyes

Dr. Leakey hired Jane as his secretary, and was impressed by her attention to detail, patience and extensive knowledge of wildlife. Leakey was looking for a fresh pair of eyes and a fiery spirit — someone who could observe things that those in the existing scientific community would not be able to.

Despite having no formal degree, Leakey hired Jane to study chimpanzees in the wild. Under Leakey, Goodall set up the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve, later renamed the Gombe Stream Research Centre, near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania. There she discovered chimpanzees ate meat, fought fierce wars, and perhaps most importantly, fashioned tools to eat termites.

“Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or accept chimpanzees as humans,” Leakey said of the discovery.

Making science more human

Goodall became a pioneer in her field and created a path for a string of other women to follow suit in an otherwise male-dominated domain. Although she eventually paused her research to earn a PhD at Cambridge University, Goodall remained in the jungle for years.

Her first husband and frequent collaborator was the wildlife cameraman Hugo van Lawick, and partnering with the National Geographic Society, they brought her beloved chimps into the lives of everyday people through film, TV and magazines.

Through the National Geographic’s coverage, the chimpanzees at Gombe Stream soon became household names — most famously, one that Goodall called “David Greybeard” for his silver streak of hair. Others that also featured were Flo and some of her children, such as Figan and Flint.

From primatology to global advocacy

Nearly 30 years after first arriving in Africa, Goodall said she realised she could not support or protect the chimpanzees without addressing the dire disappearance of their habitat. She said she realised she would have to look beyond Gombe, leave the jungle, and take up a larger global role as a conservationist.

As her career evolved, she shifted her focus from primatology to climate advocacy after witnessing widespread habitat devastation, urging the world to take quick and urgent action on climate change.

She made a new name for herself, travelling an average of 300 days a year to meet with local officials in countries around the world and speaking with community and school groups. It was a stark shift from her isolated research, spending long days watching chimpanzees. She became a true icon for conservationists, a star of popular biology, a lecturer who invariably filled auditoriums, and a sought-after guest on television. She even permeated pop culture, with the character of Dr. Goodall appearing in “The Simpsons” and a Dr. Jane Goodall doll starring in a special series of Barbie dolls made from ocean-recovered plastic – the doll features her in safari gear, with a binocular and a notebook, and comes with a model of David Greybeard. 

Jane Goodall continued touring right up until her passing, having spoken at Climate Week in New York City just days before.

A treasured memory

A prolific author, she published more than 30 books, including the groundbreaking In the Shadow of Man – a detailed and absorbing account of the early years of her field study of, and adventures with, the chimpanzees of Gombe.

Whenever I travel, I am always on the lookout for the local (preferably second-hand) bookstore and on one of these forays, I pounced on a 1st edition copy (1971) of In the Shadow of Man.

In 2010, Kate and I went to see/hear Jane Goodall speak at the beautiful Kirstenbosch gardens in Cape Town. Goodall had one son, called Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick but known as “Grub”. Of our own three children, the first, Henry, was (and still is) fondly known as “Crumb”. We took then-2-year old Crumb with us to the talk and at its completion, I introduced him to the great lady as “our own Grub”, to which she beamed her friendly smile and patted him affectionately on the head (like a baby chimpanzee).

I also showed her the book and she kindly offered to sign it for me. She had used a fair portion of her talk to promote Roots & Shoots, a conservation programme she had recently launched aimed specifically at children, and in the book, she wrote:

“For Crumb – Follow your dreams. Jane Goodall”

Perhaps recognising that each child is his/her own person and in their own way, they can make a difference — just like her.

FOOTNOTE

Little Grub spent several years living with his parents in Gombe. As Jane Goodall had discovered a few years earlier, chimpanzees liked meat, and there were several dangerous situations when chimpanzees approached the camp and showed aggression towards Grub. Hugo van Lawick noticed clear signs of the apes’ readiness to attack his son and there was even an attempt to do so, but fortunately he was nearby and protected his child. A “cage” was then constructed in the camp that allowed Grub to play outdoors while protecting him from the chimpanzees. Scenes of Grub and his cage are included in the 2017 movie, “Jane” that draws from over 100 hours of never-before-seen footage that had been tucked away in the National Geographic archives for over 50 years.