Another of Dr. Jane's famous discoveries is that chimpanzees make and use tools, an ability
that was once only attributed to humans. Gombe chimps use objects such as stems, twigs, branches, leaves, and rocks in nine
different ways to accomplish different tasks which assist in feeding, drinking, cleaning themselves, investigating out of
reach objects, and as weapons. Tool use is acquired through observational learning and is passed from one generation to the
next. Therefore, different chimp communities use objects for many different purposes, and chimpanzee cultures are formed.
Cautiously I moved around so that I could see what he was doing. He was squatting beside the
red earth mound of a termite nest, and as I watched I saw him carefully push a long grass stem down into a hole in the mound.
After a moment he withdrew it and picked something from the end with his mouth. I was too far away to make out what he was
eating, but it was obvious that he was actually using a grass stem as a tool. On the eighth day of my watch David Greybeard
arrived again, together with Goliath, and the pair worked there for two hours. I could see much better: I observed how they
scratched open the sealed-over passage entrances with a thumb or forefinger. I watched how they bit the ends off their tools
when they became bent, or used the other end, or discarded them in favor of new ones. Goliath once moved at least fifteen
yards from the heap to select a firm-looking piece of vine, and both males often picked three or four stems while they were
collecting tools, and put the spares beside them on the ground until they wanted them. Most exciting off all, on several
occasions they picked small leafy twigs and prepared them for use by stripping off the leaves. This was the first recorded
example of a wild animal not merely using an object as a tool, but actually modifying an object and thus showing the crude
beginnings of toolmaking.
