In the Shadow of Man

During her estrus, Flo became pregnant, and many of the chimps became more accustomed to coming to camp and eating the bananas that Goodall and van Lawick left for them. Because of the threat of baboons and the vast quantities of bananas the chimps could eat, Goodall implemented a more formal feeding station. With the help of Kris Pirozynski, Goodall installed some concrete boxes with steel lids for the bananas. Goodall entrusted Pirozynski with the responsibility of observing the chimps for her while she left for the UK for four months.

Goodall and van Lawick were “very much in love” but knew that they should test their relationship in “civilization” and not just Gombe. Nevertheless, only a week after Goodall arrived in the UK to begin her third term at Cambridge, she received a marriage proposal from van Lawick via a telegram. She accepted, and once her Cambridge term was complete, they married in London. Goodall enjoyed her wedding and was only sad that Louis Leakey, who was responsible for their meeting, couldn’t be there. Eager to return to Gombe, Goodall and van Lawick had a brief three-day honeymoon before returning to Tanzania.

When they arrived back at camp they observed Flo with her new offspring, Flint, a baby male. Unfortunately, however, the chimps had become more ingenious about breaking into the feeding boxes and even digging up wires. They had also become overly comfortable in camp, even going into the tents and destroying people’s belongings. Some chimps began to visit the local fishermen’s huts and steal from them too. Goodall decided to move the feeding station up the valley, further from camp and the fishermen’s huts. She and van Lawick lured the chimps to the new feeding station, which wasn’t difficult since they were used to their feeding places moving seasonally. The new site had an observation tent with window flaps, so Goodall could continue to closely observe the chimps. Figan, Flo’s young son, was particularly interesting to watch because he demonstrated a clever and strategic approach to getting fruit without upsetting the older males. He prompted the whole group to walk away and follow him, only to sneak back later and take some unguarded bananas for himself.

Later that year, Goodall saw the chimps using a new tool: a water sponge. They chewed leaves, crumpled them, and then use them to scoop up water for drinking. Another interesting development was the ability to observe chimps from their newborn period, since both Flo and Melissa were raising new infants. Goodall and van Lawick watched Melissa care for her newborn, Goblin, shortly after his birth. Goodall calls these observations “the most exciting thing that year” (99).

Goodall fondly recalls watching Flo’s son Flint grow as an infant. His sister, Fifi, became increasingly interested in him and often interacted with him. As Flint grew bigger, Fifi often tried to pull him away from their mother, Flo, to carry him herself. Flo resisted this and distracted Fifi by playing with her or grooming her. Eventually, Fifi successfully took Flint from their mother and cuddled him for a moment before Flo rescued him. Over time, Fifi began to take more responsibility for Flint, and Flo even allowed her to carry him. In contrast, Flint’s brothers, Faben and Figan, didn’t pay much attention to him. This changed as Flint grew older and Flo became less attentive to him; Faben and Figan took Flint as a way to manipulate Flo to go with them somewhere else:

As the termite season wore on there could be no doubt that Flo’s older offspring were kidnapping Flint with the deliberate intent of getting their mother to stop at least for the time being, her endless termiting. We saw all three of them taking Flint in this way on any number of occasions (110).

As Flint grew, he made more friends in his community, in which the male Mike was now the most dominant.