Gombe Stream National Park is located on Tanzania’s western border with the Congo. It is one of Tanzania’s smallest national parks, with just 52 km2 of protected area in the highlands of Lake Tanganyika’s eastern side. It is a well-known destination for anyone looking to view chimps off the usual path. Guided excursions take guests into the forest to view chimps in their natural habitat. The natural vegetation in the area ranges from grassland to forest to tropical rainforest.

Jane Goodall’s research

Jane Goodall conducted her chimp population study at the Gombe Stream national park. Jane Goodall went to Tanzania for the first time when she was 26 years old and had no formal college education. Her study demonstrated the chimps’ intellectual and emotional complexity. Goodall established a tiny study station in Gombe in the aim of learning more about our closest cousins’ behaviour. She spent months there following chimp troops, notably the Kasekela chimp tribe. She studied their everyday activities until she was gradually adopted by one troop and given rare and close views into chimp life.

The Gombe Stream Research Center (GSRC) was founded in 1967 to manage continuing chimp research in the park. The GSRC, which is largely administered by trained Tanzanians, is the longest-running field research of an animal species in its natural environment.

Gombe Stream National Park’s Animals

Because of its diversity, Gombe is becoming a more attractive tourist destination. Other primates found in Gombe Stream National Park include beachcomber olive baboons, red colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, and vervet monkeys. In the region, red-tailed and blue monkeys also hybridise. The park is home to over 200 bird species as well as bushpigs. There are also several snake species, as well as hippos and leopards.