Photograph by Martin Schoeller

In 1960 a spirited animal lover with no scientific training set up camp in Tanganyika’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve to observe chimpanzees. Today Jane Goodall’s name is synonymous with the protection of a beloved species. At Gombe—one of the longest, most detailed studies of any wild animal—revelations about chimps keep coming.

Photograph by Hugo Van Lawick

Who’s watching whom? Jane trades gazes with Fifi, one of her original study subjects. The wooden fence kept chimps from charging into camp and scattering provisions. Years later Fifi climbed to top matriarch, with seven of nine offspring surviving—the most of any female. She and her youngest disappeared in 2004, “a really sad time,” Jane says.

Notebook courtesy Jane Goodall

Jane’s entry in a 1961 field notebook

Photograph courtesy Jane Goodall Institute

High-ranking Flo was an attentive, playful mother. She lived an estimated 53 years, one of the longest lives recorded at Gombe.

Photograph courtesy Jane Goodall Institute

A callous and indifferent mother, Passion’s unusual behavior took a violent turn.

Photograph courtesy Jane Goodall Institute

Strong relationships with her children helped Melissa maintain her social ranking.

Photograph by Ingo Arndt, Minden Pictures

In a memo, Leakey—Jane’s mentor—credited her with a discovery that helped redefine what it means to be human: Chimps make tools. Three years earlier Jane had observed chimps fishing for termites with plant stems. This chimp, photographed in 2005, displays humanlike concentration as he snags a termite snack.

Photograph by Hugo Van Lawick

Bananas gave Jane an edge. A steady supply lured chimps and enabled her to gain their trust. David Greybeard (right), who once ate about 50 bananas in a sitting, was the first Gombe chimp to lose his fear of human contact. When he let Jane groom him, it was, she wrote, “a proud moment.” It is now known that chimps lack immunity to some human diseases, so Gombe researchers must keep at least 25 feet away.

Photograph by Hugo Van Lawick

1962: David Greybeard earns a banana

Photograph by Hugo Van Lawick

1962: Jane and partner show the flag

Photograph courtesy David Bygott

1970: Lori Baldwin retrieves a pen from Atlas

Photograph courtesy David Bygott

1970: Chimps peer in a mirror

Photograph courtesy David Bygott

1971: Staff document chimps with prey

Photograph courtesy David Bygott

1971: Anne Shouldice ducks Mustard

Photograph by Emilie Van Zinnicq Bergmann-Riss

1973: News of a grant moves Jane and colleagues to dance

Photograph by Caroline Van Zinnicq Bergmann

1974: Juma Mkukwe and Yassini Selemani with Figan

Photograph by Michael Nichols, NGM Staff

1995: Jane with researcher Hilali Matama

Photograph courtesy Michael L. Wilson

2003: Watching Gremlin and family

Photograph by Elizabeth Lonsdorf, Lincoln Park Zoo

2006: Scanning habitat edge

Photograph courtesy Michael L. Wilson

2008: Methodi Vyampi observes Zeus

Photograph courtesy Robert O' Malley

2010: Jane with Gombe staff

Photograph by Michael Nichols, NGM Staff

Back in the forest in 1995 for “spiritual refreshment,” Jane enjoys the company of Pax, arm raised for grooming by his brother, Prof. “When I’m on my own at Gombe now, I can easily recapture how I felt at 26, when all the world was new,” she says. “There’s still a spiritual power there. I can breathe it in.”