Jane Goodall began her chimpanzee research in Tanzania. In July 1960, she arrived at what was then Gombe Stream National Park on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, beginning one of the longest-running studies of wild animals.
Goodall was supported by anthropologist Louis Leakey, who believed that observing living great apes could provide clues about the behavior of early human ancestors. At Gombe, she followed chimpanzee communities through steep valleys and forest, gradually earning enough tolerance from them to observe their daily lives at close range.
Her research there produced landmark findings about tool use, hunting, communication, dominance, family bonds, and aggression. The Gombe work also became a model for long-term field research, with observations continuing through later generations of scientists at the Gombe Stream Research Centre.
A frequent geographical mix-up is Kenya, where Goodall first worked and met Louis Leakey. Her famous chimpanzee field study, however, began farther west in Tanzania, at Gombe. The park is now generally known as Gombe National Park.