Renowned primatologist and researcher Jane Goodall has been a supporter of Disney's Animal Kingdom and a friend to the Animal Programs staff there since before the park opened. During a construction tour of the park, she inquired of Animal Programs Director Rick Barongi if there was an image of a chimpanzee on the Tree of Life. He said he would have to check.
When Barongi checked with Chief Sculptor Zsolt Hormay, he discovered that there was no chimp planned for the tree. Within a week, though, that all changed. Hormay and one of his team, Fabrice Kennel, created a sculpture of one of Jane Goodall's most famous subjects, David Greybeard.
They placed the chimp at eye level, right at the entrance of the It's Tough to be a Bug attraction, and proudly presented it to her upon her next visit to the park.
The plaque placed alongside the sculpture reads as follows:
In 1960, wildlife researcher Jane Goodall observed a wild
chimpanzee as it carefully stripped a stick of its leaves and
inserted it into a mound to fish for termites.
This discovery that non-humans could create tools opened a
door to a previously unknown world of animal intelligence
and inspired Jane Goodall's life-long commitment
to understanding these complex, amazing primates.
To honor Jane Goodall, this likeness of the chimpanzee
she called David Greybeard was created in the
Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
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