Google Street View adds another lovely series of pictures

Oct 22, 2014 15:08 GMT  ·  By

Google is always taking us in cool places across the globe via Street View. Now, the company takes things a step further and has decided to take us all on a journey among the Tanzanian chimps who Jane Goodall studies years ago.

Google has entered a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, as well as with the Tanzanian National Parks to map the Gombe National Park, which is the home of the chimpanzees Goodall started studying back in the ‘60s.

“Through an exciting partnership with Google Maps, Google Earth Outreach and Tanzania National Parks, today marks the launch of Gombe Street View, a unique interactive experience where you can ‘walk’ the same trails Dr. Goodall has walked for more than fifty years, see some of the chimpanzees and learn about the Jane Goodall Institute's ongoing research and conservation efforts,” reads a blog post on the Jane Goodall Institute site.

The Institute’s Dr. Lilian Pintea, vice president of conservation science, and Bill Wallauer, research videographer and wildlife cameraman, alongside the Jane Goodall’s Gombe Stream Research Center field researchers and Tanzania National Parks staff carried 40-pound backpacks with the same cameras Google uses for Street View.

“Street View is a new tool in our toolbox of geospatial technologies that enables JGI and partners to monitor and share with the world what is happening with the chimpanzee habitats in Gombe. It complements high resolution satellite imagery, community forest monitoring using mobile technologies and field researchers’ data by providing a historic record on the ground with which everyone can relate,” said Dr. Pintea.

Google offers viewers a close-up look at Tanzania's chimps

For its part, Google is quite happy about the new addition. In a blog post, they start off by painting the picture of Jane Goodall’s adventure when, at 26 years old, was stepping off the boat in what is now the Gombe National Park in Tanzania to observe and record the behavior of chimpanzees in the wild.

Google and its partners walked on the same paths that the legendary Goodall did many years ago, spending her time watching chimpanzees using tools for various purposes, something that up until then was believed to be unique to humans.

The team even stopped at “The Peak,” Goodall’s favorite vantage point, which you can now see for yourself.

While Google Street View may help you get around through your hometown, it will also take you on special journeys around the world, whether that’s in the world’s oceans, the Liwa desert, the Pyramids, Laos, the Bermuda and beyond.

Trip Among Jane Goodall's Chimpanzees (3 Images)

Google takes you on a trip in Tanzania
Check out the chimpsAnd the beautiful beaches
Open gallery