In the Shadow of Man

Goodall hikes through the wild terrain of Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve, looking for chimps. Spotting a group of monkeys and chimps feeding on some yellow fruit, she approaches them carefully and is disappointed when they all flee. She’s stunned to see two male chimps sitting and staring at her; when she sits down they begin to groom each other. More chimps soon emerge from the bushes. Goodall is astonished, since she spent six months unsuccessfully trying to approach the chimps. She recognizes the two males, whom she has named David Greybeard and Goliath. For Goodall, this is her “proudest moment” because these two “magnificent creatures” accept her presence. This feeling of “exultation” is a welcome break from the “depression and despair” (2) that Goodall had often experienced during her half-year of unsuccessful observation.

Goodall was always interested in animals, and she shares a childhood story of crawling into a henhouse to discover how chickens laid eggs. Her mother gave her a toy chimp, named Jubilee, which Goodall always loved. These interests quickly took shape into a dream of seeing wild animals in Africa. As a young woman, Goodall jumped at the chance to visit family friends on their farm in Kenya, where they introduced her to