The stuffed chimpanzee Jane Goodall had as a child was named Jubilee. Her father gave her the lifelike toy as an alternative to a teddy bear, and it became an early symbol of her lifelong fascination with animals.
Goodall grew up in England and developed an intense interest in animal behavior long before she began working in Africa. She later recalled that some of her mother’s friends thought the realistic chimpanzee toy was frightening and might give her nightmares. Goodall felt the opposite: Jubilee encouraged her curiosity and helped nurture the imaginative connection with animals that shaped her career.
Jubilee is not the same as Curious George, a fictional book character, or any chimpanzee Goodall studied at Gombe Stream National Park. The toy was reportedly still kept on Goodall’s dresser in London. Her childhood attachment to Jubilee is often mentioned alongside her later work observing wild chimpanzees, including tool use, social bonds, and family relationships.