1Hey, it's Esther.
2Check this out.
3This is a robot spy hummingbird.
4It's a camera disguised to look like an ordinary hummingbird.
5Scientists use the spy hummingbird to sneak into a rare and incredible gathering of wild animals,
6a swarm of monarch butterflies.
7With the secret camera, we can see the swarm up close without scaring the butterflies away.
8Someone named John has a question about animals in the wild like these.
9Let's give John a call now.
10Hi, Esther.
11Hey, John.
12I have a question for you.
13How do scientists learn about wild animals?
14That's a great question.
15When you wanna learn something new about wild animals,
16maybe you read a book about animals or watch a video online,
17but how do the people who write those books and make those videos learn all that information?
18I wonder if you have any ideas.
19How do you think scientists learn about wild animals?
20Getting to know wild animals isn't the easiest thing for scientists to do.
21For one thing, wild animals are... well, wild.
22They're often afraid of people and can even be dangerous.
23So what can we learn about wild animals in the places they naturally live?
24I wanna introduce you to a scientist who's learned a lot about this.
25You may have even heard of her before because her work is so famous.
26Her name is Jane Goodall.
27Even when she was young, Jane Goodall loved animals.
28As a kid, she used to sneak into the chicken coop her family kept to watch the chickens lay eggs.
29Her favorite toy was a stuffed chimpanzee,
30and she dreamed of one day traveling to Africa to see chimps in person.
31As a young woman, Jane Goodall saved up enough money to follow her dreams.
32In 1960, she traveled to the country of Tanzania,
33where she got a job studying chimpanzees in Gombe National Park.
34Back then, scientists didn't know much about chimpanzees.
35There weren't as many books or films about them as there are today.
36And there weren't gadgets like the spy hummingbird camera that could help scientists see wild animals deep in the forest.
37No one had ever been able to get near enough to chimpanzees in the wild to actually study them closely.
38To do what no scientists had been able to do before,
39Jane Goodall would have to be patient.
40Really, really patient.
41Every day, she hiked into the rainforest looking for chimps.
42Some days, she couldn't find any.
43And when she did glimpse a group of chimpanzees,
44they usually ran away as soon as she came near.
45To them, Jane Goodall was a stranger invading their home,
46and they were scared of her.
47But Jane Goodall made up her mind that she would earn their trust.
48Every day, she went as close to the chimps as she could without scaring them.
49And then she sat there, still and silent,
50hour after hour, day after day, just watching.
51She did this for weeks and weeks.
52Imagine how tired, and itchy, and bored she must have felt sometimes.
53But slowly, very slowly, the chimps started getting used to having her there.
54Over time, Jane Goodall moved closer and closer,
55and then a little bit closer
56until she could sit right in the middle of the group without bothering them.
57In words and drawings, Jane Goodall carefully recorded everything she noticed,
58down to the tiniest detail.
59She recorded what each chimpanzee looked like,
60what they did each day, what they ate,
61how they played, and fought, and changed over time.
62She even recorded the faces the chimps made at each other.
63Through her observations, Jane Goodall got to know each member of the group like a friend.
64She even gave the chimpanzees names,
65like David Greybeard, Flo, and Frodo.
66Now, you might think that Jane Goodall's approach makes sense.
67When you meet someone new, maybe you feel shy at first, but...
68as you become friends, you relax and start to act like your regular self.
69So the friendlier Jane Goodall became with the chimpanzees
70the better she could understand them, right?
71It may seem obvious now, but...
72at the time, scientists didn't do this.
73Back then, scientists used numbers to name the different animals they saw
74and tried not to get too friendly with them.
75To them, Jane Goodall's approach was new and even a little shocking
76but Jane Goodall believed that building close relationships with chimpanzees
77was the best way to learn what they were really like.
78And through her methods, she made some incredible discoveries.
79Before Jane Goodall's work,
80most scientists believe that only humans had personalities and relationships.
81But through her observations,
82Jane Goodall learned that each chimpanzee was different.
83Each had a unique personality.
84Some were bold, others shy,
85some energetic, others calm and quiet.
86And each Chimp had complicated relationships with the other chimps in the group:
87from loving friends, to siblings who annoyed each other,
88to bitter enemies.
89She also noticed something else,
90something that looked simple, but really wasn't.
91She noticed that sometimes, chimpanzees use twigs to pull termites out of termite mounds,
92kind of like you or I might use a spoon or chopsticks to scoop up a snack.
93This meant that chimpanzees used tools.
94At the time, most scientists thought that only humans used tools, so this was a big news.
95Jane continued her work with chimpanzees for many, many years.
96As of 2022, at 87 years old,
97she's still working to help people learn about chimpanzees
98and how to protect them and other wild animals around the world.
99These days, new technologies like GPS devices or robot spy hummingbird cameras
100can help scientists track and observe animals in the wild.
101Technology can be an incredible tool for a wildlife researcher.
102But ultimately, the best tech helps us do what Jane Goodall did:
103get close and pay attention.
104In summary, observing animals in the wild isn't easy,
105but it can teach us a lot.
106Jane Goodall was a patient and thoughtful observer and it paid off.
107She learned many things about chimpanzees that we never knew before
108and set the standard for how we study wild animals today.
109And you can do this too.
110What kinds of wildlife live near you?
111Are there birds, bugs, squirrels?
112See what you can learn about the wildlife around you by being patient,
113watching carefully, and recording what you notice.
114You might make some new discoveries of your own.
115If we keep our eyes open, our ears open,
116and think of every day as an adventure,
117then each day will give us a lesson.
118That's all for this week's question.
119Thanks, John, for asking it.